Comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli has been accused of indecently assaulting a woman in a BBC studio. Mr. Kohli, 56, has denied six sex-related charges against three women between April 2007 and December 2016.
Hardeep Singh Kohli was previously represented in shows for the BBC and appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Friday. The comedian was also a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother.
Locations include BBC studios at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, where he was accused of the incident in which he was squeezing one woman’s bottom and trying to hug her.
It is also alleged that Mr. Kohli committed a breach of the peace in the woman’s presence at a bar and restaurant in Glasgow on the same dates. There is another allegation of assault on the same woman at the Radisson Hotel in Glasgow. There, he stroked the woman on her back and touched her hair between the same dates.
Mr. Kohli is also charged with another incident of assault on a second woman in June 2008. The incident happened in the Cross Keys Hotel in Canonbie, Dumfries and Galloway. He is alleged to have seized that woman by the arms, lunged towards her, and tried to kiss her.
For the same incident, he committed a breach of the peace and carried out a sex act in the woman’s presence, as per the prosecutors.
In December 2016, Kohli sexually assaulted a third woman at the Yes Bar in Glasgow. The allegation was of seizing her by the body and attempting to put his tongue in her mouth.
Kohli claimed that the incident was consensual, by lodging a special defence to the allegation, the court heard.
The court heard that a vulnerable witness order had been issued for all three women. A joint minute has been agreed upon between the prosecution and the defence.
Urfan Dar, the defence lawyer, said that there is a special defence of consent for charge four.
Sheriff John McCormick set a trial for November 24 at Glasgow Sheriff Court, predicted to last five days.
Kohli was wearing a purple turban and a black-and-grey Adidas tracksuit when he appeared in court for the trial and was released on bail.
The comedian had appeared on TV shows like Loose Ends and Question Time.