Indian-origin Australian public servant denied bail in stalking case over alleged database threats

An Australian public servant of Indian origin has been arrested and subsequently denied bail by a court in Canberra for stalking a woman and threatening to use government databases to obtain information about her and her family, according to media reports.

Suyash Sinha, 31, was arrested on Tuesday following a police raid on his home, the state-owned ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) News reported.

Sinha appeared before the Australian Capital Territory Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where Special Magistrate Lucinda Wilson refused his bail application, saying the risk to the complainant’s safety and well-being was “too great,” the report said.

Sinha, who became an Australian citizen last week, is accused of stalking the woman, whom he allegedly met through a dating app in January, the Region Canberra news portal reported.

Sinha allegedly continued messaging the woman after she rejected his advances. In August, he described what she was wearing while she was shopping at a Coles supermarket in Canberra, saying he was there too, the report said.

The woman later agreed to meet Sinha at a pub to ask him to stop contacting her. During the meeting, he said he worked in finance for the ACT government and named one of her siblings, claiming that “anyone could be looked up in government systems,” it said.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is a self-governing territory of Australia that contains Canberra, the national capital.

The woman subsequently received multiple friend requests from different social media accounts with intimidating usernames and approached police in September, according to the news portal.

Prosecutors told the court the woman was terrified and experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, ABC News reported.

The prosecution opposed bail, arguing that Sinha was fixated on the woman and could endanger her safety or interfere with evidence and witnesses, the report said.

"He's fixated on this person, and he's refused to accept 'no' as an answer to his advances," the prosecutor was quoted as saying by ABC News.

Special Magistrate Wilson told Sinha the woman had never expressed interest in a relationship with him in the 10 months since he first contacted her.

“But you did not give up. Ever,” Wilson was quoted as saying by the Region Canberra news portal.

Sinha’s lawyer argued against the “allegations” and said that the accused had no prior criminal history and had been financially supporting his family members in India and his brother in Canberra, the news portal said.

Sinha has been remanded in custody, with the case adjourned to November 4, it said.