Alleged victim in Rochdale sex abuse trial told police she would close her eyes and 'pray for it to be over'

An alleged victim in the Rochdale sex abuse trial said she would close her eyes and 'pray for it to be over'.

Girl B told police about her allegations in video recorded interviews, which are being played to the jury in the trial of eight men accused of sexual offences in the town. The offences were allegedly committed against two girls between 2001 and 2006.

The alleged victims, who are entitled to anonymity, are being identified as Girl A and Girl B. Minshull Street Crown Court has been told the accused were mainly either taxi drivers or market stall traders in the town.

The girls were ‘passed around’ for sex before being ‘discarded’, it is alleged. Mohammed Zahid, 64; Kasir Bashir, 50; Mushtaq Ahmed, 66; Roheez Khan, 39; Mohammed Shahzad, 43; Nisar Hussain, 43; Naheem Akram, 48; and Arfan Khan, 40, deny all the charges they face.

In her first interview with police in 2021, Girl B named a man called Zahid, which prosecutors allege to be Mohammed Zahid, who ran a market stall. Girl B said of him: “He was dead soft natured in the sense, he never shouted. He spoke dead soft, like he actually gave a cr**.

“He wasn’t nasty. He never looked pi**** off. He was a bit creepy, not creepy. He was a soft guy.

“There was a part of me that thought he was a nice guy who cared, and obviously he wasn’t. But that’s how he came across to me at the time. I felt close to him at the time. At that time I felt like the others were taking the p*** but not him."

She also told police about a man she named as 'Bashir', which prosecutors allege to be Kashir Bashir, another market stall holder. Girl B said of him: “He was about 6ft odd. I’m just looking back and even now he was massive. He just looked aggressive. His face was just like, stern."

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