10 years’ probation given for drugging of woman
BENTONVILLE — A former Rogers medical resident who was arrested after a woman told police he drugged and raped her pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of introducing a controlled substance into the body of another person after prosecutors agreed to drop a rape charge as part of a plea agreement.
Rikhav Vasanwala, 34, was sentenced to 10 years of state-supervised probation and ordered to pay court fines and fees by Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren.
Vasanwala waived his right to seal, expunge or otherwise remove this felony conviction from his criminal record. He also waived his right to seek a medical license from any licensing medical board, and he was ordered to have no contact with the victim.
Vasanwala had originally been charged with rape involving an incapacitated person and video voyeurism.
The video voyeurism charge was dropped earlier because of speedy trial issues, according to prosecutors. The rape charge was dismissed Tuesday as part of the plea agreement.
Vasanwala administered or caused the drug Klonopin to be ingested by another person, not for a legitimate medical purpose, on Aug. 17, 2020, according to court documents.
Vasanwala was arrested in connection with rape and video voyeurism in February 2022.
Rogers police started investigating in January 2022 after a woman reported she had a video of herself being raped, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The woman told police she obtained a video on Vasanwala’s cellphone of him performing multiple sex acts on her, according to the affidavit.
She told police she was unconscious because of the prescription medication Vasanwala had given her, according to the affidavit.
The woman said she found multiple videos on Vasanwala’s phone of him performing sex acts on other women, according to the affidavit. She said she sent the video of Vasanwala raping her to her phone and deleted the other videos from his phone, the affidavit states.
A police detective viewed the video and stated in the affidavit the woman appeared to be unconscious while Vasanwala engaged in sex acts with her, according to the affidavit.
At the time of his arrest, Vasanwala was an internal medicine resident physician in Rogers through the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
The health care provider confirmed Vasanwala was then a third-year resident physician.
Vasanwala was placed on immediate administrative leave, according to the hospital. He resigned on April 4, 2022.
Prosecutors said Vasanwala never obtained his medical license.
He was prevented from doing so in Illinois by their medical board, and the plea bargain will prevent him from obtaining a medical license of any kind.