Indian-origin millionaire sentenced to jail in domestic violence case

Gurbaksh Chahal is a high school dropout who went on to become a millionaire at the age of 25  He appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show as a highly eligible bachelor Chahal has defended domestic violence charges, saying he lost his temper but did not hit his girlfriend

Internet mogul Gurbaksh Chahal who sold his startup for $300 million at the age of 25 and appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, an "eligible bachelor" was sentenced on Friday to a year in jail for violating his probation in a domestic violence case.

The image of an eligible bachelor took a hit when prosecutors charged him with dozens of felonies in 2013, saying surveillance footage from his San Francisco penthouse showed him punching and kicking his girlfriend 117 times and trying to smother her with a pillow.

Chahal avoided prison, receiving probation instead, after the woman stopped cooperating with authorities and a judge said the video could not be used as evidence. He violated his probation by allegedly kicking his present girlfriend, who also didn't cooperate in the case, prosecutors say. Video of the first attack made it into San Francisco Superior Court, where a judge was set to sentence the 34-year-old today.

Chahal has defended himself against the initial charges, saying he lost his temper but did not hit his girlfriend. And his attorneys have attacked the second woman's credibility, saying she got into a sham marriage to get a US visa and had been drinking the night she said Chahal hit her. Chahal's legal woes extend beyond the criminal cases. Two former employees have sued him for discrimination, painting him as a bullying boss.

In prosecuting Chahal, the district attorney's office faced a setback when a judge ruled that police illegally seized the surveillance footage from the mogul's penthouse. But prosecutors pressed ahead, and Chahal pleaded guilty in 2014 to misdemeanour charges of battery and domestic violence battery.

A different judge revoked his probation last month after prosecutors say he repeatedly kicked another girlfriend in the same penthouse in 2014 and then dissuaded her from talking by threatening to report her to immigration authorities. Chahal accused both women of cheating on him, prosecutors say.

The judge allowed prosecutors to introduce the video after they argued it showed a pattern of abusive behaviour. She reviewed it before issuing her ruling but has not released it publicly.