Ajay Chopra, 39, faced Bendigo Magistrates Court yesterday on four charges of indecent assault and two charges of attempted indecent assault.

The court heard Chopra regularly caught the train to get to work in Melbourne.

Police allege Chopra approached young women on the train and publicly assaulted them between June and August last year.

Prosecuting, Leading Senior Constable Mark Snell listed a series of offences against six different women between the ages of 18 and 30. Each incident followed a similar line.

Leading Senior Constable Snell said Chopra would sit next to his intended victim on the train and try to engage her in conversation, usually reading her the horoscopes from the newspaper he was carrying. “He then claimed he was able to read palms,” he said.

Leading Senior Constable Snell said Chopra then snatched the women’s hands and started “deciphering their future” while pulling their hand into his crotch and/or their own.

He said that on a number of occasions Chopra forced the women’s hands onto his erect penis, placed his hands on their inside thigh and vaginal area, and brushed one victim’s breast.

Chopra’s grip was so strong that many of the women could not break free and were unable to summon help.

Leading Senior Constable Snell said the victims felt “violated, dirty and disgusted” after the attack.

Chopra has not entered a plea to any of the six charges, but yesterday Magistrate Jennifer Tregent strongly advised him to plead guilty.

“It’s a pretty strong and compelling case,” she said.

“The victims are very consistent in their descriptions.

“One of the victims was 18, she would have been terrified, I mean all of them would have been terrified.”

Ms Tregent said if Chopra elected to plead not guilty and put the six victims through a contested hearing, he would be facing jail time.

“There’s a high probability you would be found guilty of these matters,” she said.

“If he pleads guilty he will spare the victims from having to relive the experience.”

The case was adjourned to February 28 for a plea.

Chopra has been banned from travelling on V/Line while he is on bail.