The widespread abuse of girls in a number of English towns and cities, including Rochdale, Rotherham, and Oldham, which emerged more than a decade ago, has long stirred controversy. A series of court cases eventually led to the convictions of dozens of men, mostly of South Asian origin. The victims were vulnerable, mostly white girls. A series of official enquiries into how police and social workers failed to halt the abuse found that officials in some cases turned a blind eye to avoid appearing racist.
According to the BBC, recently in a court hearing it was revealed that eight alleged predators accused of the rape and sexual exploitation of two 13-year-old girls in Rochdale “abused, degraded, and discarded” them in an “appalling” way.
Eight men have gone on trial accused of 56 sexual offences, including grooming, sexually exploiting, and raping the two 13-year-olds between 2001 and 2006.
Jurors at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court were told the girls were “passed around for sex” by the gang, led by market trader Mohammed Zahid, known to the girls as “Bossman.”.
Mohammed Zahid, Kashir Bashir, Mushtaq Ahmed, Roheez Khan, Mohammed Shahzad, Nisar Hussain, Naheem Akram, and Arfhan Khan deny all the allegations against them.
The court was told they were made to have sex in “filthy flats and on rancid mattresses”, and other times in “cars, car parks, alleyways or disused warehouses”.
“The girls were expected to have sex with these men and others, whenever and wherever the men wanted.”
(With inputs from AFP)