Married man accused of raping runaway lady stated she was ‘clearly ‘ in him
A married man accused of exploiting and raping a 16-year-old runaway claimed it was ‘obvious’ she was interested in him after a flirty exchange, a court has heard
A man on trial for allegedly exploiting and raping a 16-year-old runaway girl claimed in court that it was “obvious” she was interested in him. Arqash Zaffar, 41, told the jury he had a “flirty exchange” with the girl before she got into his car on Alum Rock Road, Birmingham, leading to them spending the night together.
Zaffar stated that after the girl gave him consensual oral sex, he dropped her off, only to pick her up again as she was homeless and he felt pity for her. Zaffar, also known by the nickname ‘Mikey’, is standing trial at Birmingham Crown Court alongside three other men, all denying multiple charges, reports Birmingham Live.
It’s alleged that between July and August 2019, he repeatedly raped the girl, arranged for her exploitation, and facilitated her sexual abuse by others in a hotel room filled with men. While giving evidence, Zaffar confirmed he was married at the time but separated from his wife.
He said he first met the girl, who claimed she was 19, while driving his BMW with co-defendant Mohammed Nadim, aka ‘Dimma’, on Alum Rock Road on July 20, 2019, the court heard. Zaffar recalled: “We had eye contact and she smiled at me.
“I was smiling back at her. We had kind of a little flirty exchange I would say. Just body language, just the fact we had eye contact and the smiles exchanged.
“It was kind of obvious she was interested, as was I.”
Zaffar remembered inviting her to “come and chill,” to which she agreed and climbed into the back of his car.
He informed the court that the trio spent roughly an hour “driving around just cruising,” listening to music and engaging in ‘banter’, before the girl requested their mobile phone numbers.
Zaffar stated he dropped Nadim home in Walsall and then asked the girl if she needed a lift back to Birmingham but she expressed a desire to stay out with him.
He continued: “She moved into the front seat of my car. We continued driving around and talking. The conversation became a little bit more flirtatious and one thing led to another.
“I remember her bragging about how good she was at performing oral. I may have made a joke like ‘I will be the judge of that’, then she said ‘yeah you can’.”
Zaffar told the court he pulled his car over and the girl gave him oral sex. He then recalled that he dropped her back off in Birmingham, near the Bullring, because “we had done what we wanted to and that’s it.”
But he said around 10 to 15 minutes later the girl called him asking if he could pick her up. Zaffar said: “I believe at this point she told me she had nowhere to go. She said she was homeless.
“She just started opening up telling me her brother had been violent to her, showed me images of bruising to her face and I just felt sorry for her.”
Zaffar claimed at the time he “didn’t want to be alone,” because he was dealing with the stress, anxiety and depression of being separated from his wife.
He confirmed that after collecting the girl once more, he picked up his mate and co-accused Shahban Arif between 1am and 2am. Zaffar said he did not drink alcohol or take drugs himself but Arif bought a bottle of vodka from the shop and also had some cocaine.
He told the court that they carried on “hanging out, chatting, playing music, vibing” before they decided to drive up to Manchester to see mutual friend and co-defendant Shiraz Nassar, nicknamed ‘Soldier’.
Zaffar said: “At this point I already promised now I would essentially pay for a hotel if she had got nowhere to stay that night.
“I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her on the street and going home sleeping in my bed while she was on the streets sleeping on a bench. I was not happy with that.”
He added he could not book a hotel in the middle of the night so he decided so stay out until the morning, which it was not unusual for him to do anyway.
Zaffar stated the girl was “part of the discussion” to go to Manchester and seemed “excited about the idea,” the court heard.
He insisted if she did not want to go then “we wouldn’t have gone, simple as that.” He is due to continue giving evidence today (Monday, November 24).
Zaffar, from Walsall, pleads not guilty to five charges of rape, four counts of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, and one count of arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation.
Nadim, 44, also from Walsall, denies a single charge of sexual assault, while Arif, 42, from the same town, refutes the lone exploitation charge.
Nassar, a 40 year old from Denton in Manchester, has entered a plea of not guilty to a rape charge. The trial is ongoing.
