Malik Muhammad Shahroz Sikandar, 30, was refused bail by the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday. Photo: Albert McKnight.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged sexual abuse.
A man who allegedly spent more than a month avoiding paying $200 for a sex worker’s services has been arrested and charged with rape.
Malik Muhammad Shahroz Sikandar, 30, indicated a not guilty plea to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent when he faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday (28 November).
The court heard it was alleged Mr Sikandar messaged the male sex worker over the dating app Grindr in October 2025 and asked how much he charged, but after the worker replied it was normally $200, he said he didn’t have the money.
Several days later, Mr Sikandar allegedly messaged him again, asking him to meet at a hotel for his services. The worker again told him it would be $200.
“Could do $100 today and transfer you $100 tomorrow,” Mr Sikandar allegedly sent him.
The court heard how, after they allegedly had sex, Mr Sikandar said he would pay him later and left his car key and another item as collateral.
Over the following few days, the worker allegedly sent him several messages requesting payment before going to the police.
The court heard that when police contacted Mr Sikandar, he allegedly told them he would pay the next day. But he allegedly did not, then was arrested this week and applied for bail in court on Friday.
Due to unrelated charges, he had to prove that special or exceptional circumstances existed in his case to justify bail.
His lawyer, Legal Aid’s David Bloomfield, argued that the prosecution’s case was so weak his client should be able to overcome this hurdle.
He accepted Mr Sikandar said it was always his intention to pay the money and said his client left “very valuable” items with the worker, so it must be inferred that he wanted to get them back.
Mr Bloomfield said an important part of the case against his client was his state of mind at the time, and he argued it was an incredibly high bar to prove that his client knowingly deceived the worker.
The prosecutor alleged the sex worker very generously agreed to adjourn payment after the services were complete, but then was “ghosted” or led along when trying to get the money from Mr Sikandar.
Special Magistrate Lucinda Wilson accepted the submission that the alleged agreement needed to be paid in a short period of time.
She also accepted that it appeared Mr Sikandar had been experiencing poverty and homelessness at the time.
Ultimately, the special magistrate did not find the prosecution’s case very weak, so she did not find that special or exceptional circumstances existed.
Mr Sikandar was refused bail and remanded in custody before Mr Bloomfield listed another bail application in December, as well as a contested committal hearing in January 2026.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
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