A group of furious Melbourne residents are planning a protest against their newly appointed mayor after it emerged he provided a character reference for a paedophile.
Indian-born Preet Singh is under pressure to resign just a week after he was elected Wyndham City Council Mayor, and locals will gather outside the Wyndham Civic Centre at 5pm on Wednesday to demand he step down.
It was revealed on Monday that Mr Singh provided a character reference for friend Kashyap Patel, who pleaded guilty to child sex offences in 2024, alongside newly preselected Liberal candidate Dinesh Gourisetty. Mr Gourisetty withdrew his candidacy that morning.
Patel, then 40, was jailed for just nine months by County Court Judge Peter Rozen for grooming and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.
“Mr Patel is very upset about the charges and I truly believe he is extremely regretful for what he has done,” Mr Singh wrote in his reference letter, which said they had been friends for 13 years.
“Even though he has been charged, I would continue to trust Mr Kashyap Patel. He has always shown high integrity and is someone I could trust … I believe any behaviour he displayed that caused him to be charged with child grooming and sexual assault was a one-off event.”
Mr Singh on Tuesday addressed calls from other councillors to resign, saying he was apologetic to the victim but that the letter was provided in good faith and he was not aware of the “gravity of the charges”.
The protest will be led by Werribee resident John Weiss, who said he was sexually assaulted when he was 14 and told the Wyndham Star Weekly Mr Singh was “not the mayor we need“.
“We look up to our community leaders, they are supposed to be examples of integrity and positivity for our community.
“I don’t think this is the leadership that Wyndham deserves,” he said.
There have also been calls for Victorian Liberal Party president Philip Davis to resign over his handling of Mr Gourisetty’s nomination for the upper house amid questions over whether the party executive knew about the reference and concerns over vetting processes.
Header image: Left, Preet Singh after being elected Mayor. Right, Mr Gourisetty and Mr Singh (Facebook).
