A former cancer scientist sexually assaulted two women on a train between London and Swindon – telling police he was “just flirting” on his arrest.
Dr Prabhat Sakya ‘trapped’ his victims by sitting next to them before touching their legs, hips, stomach and breast while growing a “bulge” in this crotch, a court heard.
The 50-year-old pervert, of Bude Road, Swindon, Wilts., claimed he was not guilty of two counts of sexual assault – but was convicted at a trial at Swindon Magistrates’ Court.
Boarding the Great Western Railway service at London Paddington, Sakya approached his first victim, asking her to move her bag so he could sit next to her – despite being sat next to a woman elsewhere on the coach a short time before.
“She found it odd because she remembers that he was already sitting next to another woman elsewhere on the coach”, crown prosecutor Keith Ballinger said.
“He placed his right arm on the armrest and took out a magazine. His arm was hanging over onto her side, touching her left arm. She believes he was making a conscious effort to touch her.
“She felt intimidated and trapped in her seat.”
His victim checked to see if the defendant was asleep and found his eyes open and his face looking towards her.
Sakya began using his finger to rub her thigh firmly.
Mr Ballinger added: “She saw a bulge in his crotch area of his trousers which she believed to be an erection. He was using his other hand to touch his tousers.
“She says she was very scared, uncomfortable and trapped.”
He stroked her leg again as the train arrived into Reading, before standing up to allow her to disembark, where she spoke to the British Transport Police about the incident.
Moments later, Sakya targeted a woman in a different coach – sitting next to her despite most of the seats around her being vacant due to many travellers alighting the service at Reading.
“She found it odd as there was plenty of space [on the coach]. She was tired so she didn’t think much of it, and carried on looking out the window”, the prosecutor said.
He continued: “He rested his arm on the armrest and press his arm towards hers. She was watching a video of a puppy on Instagram and he made a comment about it being nice.
“He was looking over her shoulder at her phone so she put the phone away as she felt uncomfortable.”
The doctor pressed his victim’s arm and elbow with his arm, actively applying force or pressure to her body before using his forearm to rub against her stomach and hip.
She froze in fear, she was terrified, the court heard.
She saw staff moving through the aisle and hoped that they would see that she was scared and help her, but they walked on by.
The defendant then began touching her knee and thigh before using his index finger to draw patterns on her leg.
Mr Ballinger said: “She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep, but that didn’t stop him.
“She opened her eyes a short time later and saw him staring at her.”
As the train arrived into Swindon station, Sakya disguised the final part of his sexual attack as getting up to leave the train – running his hand from her knee all the way up to her chest, making contact with her breast.
But unbeknown to Sakya, Wiltshire Police officers had been deployed to Swindon railway station in a bid to locate him after his first victim reported the assault to police in Reading.
As he was arrested that day (December 14, 2019), he told officers: “I wasn’t masturbating, I was just flirting with her”.
In a victim impact statement, his 20-year-old victim told of how she no longer feels safe using trains.
“I felt safe using trains until this incident. I was trapped, frozen and unable to move. It petrified me”, she wrote.
“It has been over a year since the assault, and I still have nightmares. I wake up feeling as violated as I did on that day.
“I have lost my independence, I feel unsafe travelling anywhere myself.”
His second victim, a pharmacist, said the sexual assault has affected her ability to work with male patients in her role.
“I find it difficult to trust male patients”, she said.
“I have been taking anti-depressants since the incident, I still sometimes struggle with what happened.”
Mark Glendenning, defending, said his client “offers his apologies to both ladies”.
He added that Sakya was suffering from poor mental health at the time, and is having ongoing treatment.
“Whilst he poses a risk, probation feel those risks can be managed in the community”, he commented.
At Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (October, 28), he was sentenced to 52 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 24 months and must register a sex offender for ten years.
He must also complete up to 60 rehabilitation activity requirement days, pay £620 costs and a victim surcharge of £149.
Dr Sakya is currently unemployed and claiming benefits, but most recently (2018-2020) he worked as a Programme Manager at the Imperial College London. He previously worked in the Cell Biophysics laboratory at Cancer Research UK and as a surfactant and colloid scientist at Unilever.
