The prosecutors who secured the sexual assault conviction against former Abbotsford Hindu temple president and cabbie Deepak Sharma want him jailed 6-8 months and two years probation for the crime which occurred in 2019.

WEST VANCOUVER – The prosecutors who secured the sexual assault conviction against former Abbotsford Hindu temple president and cabbie Deepak Sharma want him jailed 6-8 months and two years probation for the crime which occurred in 2019.

But Sharma’s lawyer is suggesting a six-month conditional sentence – which means Sharma would serve his time in the community – and one year of probation.

The two lawyers presented their recommendations Friday (Dec. 17) in North Vancouver provincial court at Sharma’s sentencing hearing.

Judge Patricia Bond will issue her ruling at a later date, which has not yet been set.

Sharma, 62, was convicted in June of sexual assault in relation to an incident that occurred Jan. 2, 2019 when he was driving his cab in West Vancouver.

The victim and her friend had been in Sharma’s taxi shortly before 1 a.m. when they asked him to make a stop in the 100 block of Whonoak Road to pick up some beer from another friend’s house.

The victim was alone in the cab with Sharma while her friend went inside the residence.

According to evidence presented at Sharma’s trial, the woman was grabbed in the crotch and her hand was forcibly placed in Sharma’s genital area, which had been exposed through an open zipper, reported Abby News.

The woman and her friend reported the incident to police after safely returning home.

Sharma was arrested on Jan. 17, 2019 and subsequently charged with sexual assault.

Police at the time said Sharma surrendered his West Vancouver taxi permit after receiving a revocation letter.

At the time of his arrest, Sharma was the president of the Fraser Valley Hindu Cultural Society, which runs Abbotsford’s only Hindu temple, located on Walmsley Avenue.

Crown counsel Sean Harvey said Friday that Sharma should serve jail time because taxi drivers are in a position of trust with the public and he breached that trust, reported Abby News.

“The court needs to send a message to all taxi drivers that there will be severe consequences for sexually assaulting passengers,” he said.