Woman, now 21, says she was abused, threatened and coerced into sexual activities by several older men
A young woman cried in the witness stand on Friday as she watched a video of her 15-year-old self describing to police how she was raped repeatedly by a 25-year-old man who made her feel like a "piece of meat".
In a police interview carried out in 2006, the girl told police she had been forced and coerced into sexual acts by several men. The jury heard that Ahktar Dogar, now 32, bent her fingers back to the point of breaking when she refused to have sex with her. She told the officer: "He said you don't like it when I'm angry, so make sure you make me happy."
She said Dogar only stopped when she said she would have sex with him. Asked by a policewoman how she felt about it, the girl replied: "I hated myself, I felt proper dirty and disgusted with myself. I thought, 'Why am I doing this? Why is he doing this? He knows how old I am.'"
The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is a key witness in the trial of nine men accused of a range of sexual abuse, including rape, trafficking and child prostitution. It is alleged the men targeted young girls as young as 11 from vulnerable and chaotic backgrounds, and over a period of eight years subjected them to extreme physical and sexual violence, sold some victims for prostitution in Oxford and trafficked others around the country.
Watching herself on the screen the young woman, now 21, brushed away tears and could be seen to wince as her police interview was played to the court. She chose not to have a screen put up between herself and the men she accuses of sexually and psychologically abusing her from the age of 12 until she was 15.
During the interview played to the court, she told a police officer she had come forward after three days of being forced to perform sex acts on two men and have sex with Dogar. A police officer had encouraged her to come forward after seeing her with Dogar in a park in Oxford, saying they "knew what he was up to".
She described meeting with Dogar and a group of Asian men several days before the interview. She and another girl who has given evidence at the trial, Girl B, had tried to go back to their children's home in Henley. The manager of the home refused to pay the fare when asked by Girl B; and Girl A had been taken back to Oxford because she could not pay.
That evening she was forced to perform a sex act on two men, she told police. She met with a group of six or seven men who had started speaking "in their own language" before starting to leave, the court heard. Dogar and another man remained and started demanding she perform sexual acts, she said. "They wanted me to give them a blow job and have sex with them and that," she said. "When I said no, they would become more relentless about it and say more and more nasty stuff."
They grabbed her head and she thought they would not let her go. "I thought I'm not going to get anywhere until I do it," she told police. "It wouldn't be the first time I've done it, so I thought stop being a baby and just do it, but I was getting up because I thought I don't want to do this, they are making me do it."
The next night she had seen Dogar again, and he forced her to perform a sex act and raped her. She told police: "I'm just sick of him and his mates. They treat me like a piece of meat they can tread all over." She told police she wanted it to stop because she knew the men were abusing other girls. "And I know they are doing it to other girls, little girls in their school uniforms, and I thought why should it happen to anyone else if I can stop it? They don't care how old you are, they know how old you are." She added: "They can't treat people like that. They can't force people to do these things they don't want to do all the time."
Asked about her treatment at the hands of the gang, the girl said: "I'm used to it happening to me, it's happened for so long but I'm sick of it now, I'm sick of being treated like a piece of shit. I don't want them to have hold of me. I want them to know they can't control my life any more, they don't control my life any more."
After the video interview, Girl A told the court she had been a good student in her first year at school, but after the birth of her brother her mother had become depressed and started drinking. At the age of 12, she started playing truant with another girl from school and met a group of slightly older white boys who had recently left school. She started drinking and smoking cannabis.
She then met several Asian men, including Akhtar Dogar and his younger brother Anjum "Jammy" Dogar.
"They would be very nice, showing me attention and making me feel nice about myself," she told the court. "They made me feel important and I wasn't happy at home." The men gave her "trinkets", she said: "It was like a boyfriend, it made you feel special … Not big or expensive things, but things that make you feel nice as a young girl."
Kamar Jamil, 27; Akhtar Dogar, 32; Anjum Dogar, 30; Assad Hussain, 32; Mohammed Karrar, 38; Bassam Karrar, 33; Mohammed Hussain, 24; Zeeshan Ahmed, 27; and Bilal Ahmed, 26, face 51 counts, including rape, forcing a child into prostitution and trafficking. The men deny all the charges.
The trial continues. Reported by guardian.co.uk 16 hours ago.
A young woman cried in the witness stand on Friday as she watched a video of her 15-year-old self describing to police how she was raped repeatedly by a 25-year-old man who made her feel like a "piece of meat".
In a police interview carried out in 2006, the girl told police she had been forced and coerced into sexual acts by several men. The jury heard that Ahktar Dogar, now 32, bent her fingers back to the point of breaking when she refused to have sex with her. She told the officer: "He said you don't like it when I'm angry, so make sure you make me happy."
She said Dogar only stopped when she said she would have sex with him. Asked by a policewoman how she felt about it, the girl replied: "I hated myself, I felt proper dirty and disgusted with myself. I thought, 'Why am I doing this? Why is he doing this? He knows how old I am.'"
The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is a key witness in the trial of nine men accused of a range of sexual abuse, including rape, trafficking and child prostitution. It is alleged the men targeted young girls as young as 11 from vulnerable and chaotic backgrounds, and over a period of eight years subjected them to extreme physical and sexual violence, sold some victims for prostitution in Oxford and trafficked others around the country.
Watching herself on the screen the young woman, now 21, brushed away tears and could be seen to wince as her police interview was played to the court. She chose not to have a screen put up between herself and the men she accuses of sexually and psychologically abusing her from the age of 12 until she was 15.
During the interview played to the court, she told a police officer she had come forward after three days of being forced to perform sex acts on two men and have sex with Dogar. A police officer had encouraged her to come forward after seeing her with Dogar in a park in Oxford, saying they "knew what he was up to".
She described meeting with Dogar and a group of Asian men several days before the interview. She and another girl who has given evidence at the trial, Girl B, had tried to go back to their children's home in Henley. The manager of the home refused to pay the fare when asked by Girl B; and Girl A had been taken back to Oxford because she could not pay.
That evening she was forced to perform a sex act on two men, she told police. She met with a group of six or seven men who had started speaking "in their own language" before starting to leave, the court heard. Dogar and another man remained and started demanding she perform sexual acts, she said. "They wanted me to give them a blow job and have sex with them and that," she said. "When I said no, they would become more relentless about it and say more and more nasty stuff."
They grabbed her head and she thought they would not let her go. "I thought I'm not going to get anywhere until I do it," she told police. "It wouldn't be the first time I've done it, so I thought stop being a baby and just do it, but I was getting up because I thought I don't want to do this, they are making me do it."
The next night she had seen Dogar again, and he forced her to perform a sex act and raped her. She told police: "I'm just sick of him and his mates. They treat me like a piece of meat they can tread all over." She told police she wanted it to stop because she knew the men were abusing other girls. "And I know they are doing it to other girls, little girls in their school uniforms, and I thought why should it happen to anyone else if I can stop it? They don't care how old you are, they know how old you are." She added: "They can't treat people like that. They can't force people to do these things they don't want to do all the time."
Asked about her treatment at the hands of the gang, the girl said: "I'm used to it happening to me, it's happened for so long but I'm sick of it now, I'm sick of being treated like a piece of shit. I don't want them to have hold of me. I want them to know they can't control my life any more, they don't control my life any more."
After the video interview, Girl A told the court she had been a good student in her first year at school, but after the birth of her brother her mother had become depressed and started drinking. At the age of 12, she started playing truant with another girl from school and met a group of slightly older white boys who had recently left school. She started drinking and smoking cannabis.
She then met several Asian men, including Akhtar Dogar and his younger brother Anjum "Jammy" Dogar.
"They would be very nice, showing me attention and making me feel nice about myself," she told the court. "They made me feel important and I wasn't happy at home." The men gave her "trinkets", she said: "It was like a boyfriend, it made you feel special … Not big or expensive things, but things that make you feel nice as a young girl."
Kamar Jamil, 27; Akhtar Dogar, 32; Anjum Dogar, 30; Assad Hussain, 32; Mohammed Karrar, 38; Bassam Karrar, 33; Mohammed Hussain, 24; Zeeshan Ahmed, 27; and Bilal Ahmed, 26, face 51 counts, including rape, forcing a child into prostitution and trafficking. The men deny all the charges.
The trial continues. Reported by guardian.co.uk 16 hours ago.