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Jailed: Ilyas Ashar, 84, was sentenced to 13 years in
prison for repeatedly raping a deaf and mute girl he trafficked into the U.K.
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Ilyas Ashar, 84, was told he subjected his victim to a life of 'misery and degradation' as he sexually abused the youngster from the moment he brought her into the UK from Pakistan in June 2000 when she was a 10-year-old girl.
Ashar beat the victim, who is profoundly deaf and cannot speak, used her to satisfy his sexual desires and forced her to sleep and work in the cellar of his five bedroom family home in Eccles, Salford. She was also used to steal more than £30,000 in benefits.
The girl never went to school in Pakistan or Britain, but was taught by the Ashars to sign her name to claim benefits.
For nearly 10 years she had to work for the Ashars who are understood to have a number of business interests and rental properties.
The exact age of the victim is not known, but Minshull Street Crown Court heard how she was sexually abused by Ilyas Ashar from pre-puberty.
He would routinely rape the girl in the cellar and other houses the family owned - though she would try to fight him off.
Ilyas' wife, Tallat Ashar (pictured above) has been
imprisoned for five years after they were convicted at Minshull Street
Crown Court today
He had also been convicted at an earlier trial of two counts of trafficking a person into the UK for exploitation, two counts of furnishing false information to obtain a benefit and one of permitting furnishing of false information to obtain a benefit.
His wife, Tallat Ashar, 68, was jailed for five years for two counts of trafficking a person into the UK for exploitation and four counts of furnishing false information to obtain a benefit.
Their daughter, Faaiza Ashar, 46, was found guilty at an earlier trial of two counts of furnishing false information to obtain a benefit and one count of permitting furnishing of false information to obtain a benefit. She was given a 12 month community order with 300 hours of unpaid work.
Passing sentence Judge Peter Lakin said: 'You Ilyas Ashar and you Tallat Ashar did not treat this girl as a human being.
'To you she was merely an object to be used, abused and cast aside at will. You took full advantage of her extreme vulnerability.
'You exploited her physically, you exploited her mentally and you exploited her economically.
'There was throughout a distasteful undercurrent of violence and intimidation.
'All that she had in her life was the love of her family and her own human dignity. You two took that away from her. You consigned her to a life of misery and degradation.
'Throughout these proceedings not one of you have shown any remorse. You are concerned with your own selfish, self-centred interests.
'You Ilyas and Tallat Ashar are deeply unpleasant, highly manipulative and dishonest people.'
Peter Cadwallader, prosecuting, told the court the victim could not be named because she is a victim of sexual offences.
But he said an appropriate name would be 'Miss Courageous' - after spending 34 days in total being cross-examined by the Ashars’ lawyers during legal proceedings.
'She is a remarkable young woman. A young woman with great fortitude, courage and extraordinary resilience, not only in coming to terms with the treatment she received at the hands of Mr and Mrs Ashar, but also the way she stood up in court,' he said.
'She was the victim of threats and violence throughout her life from being a little girl.
'She was the subject of forced labour. Many of the elements of servitude are present.
'She was physically abused, sexually abused by Ilyas Ashar - that included being raped by him.'
Mr Cadwallader said the victim would spend 'hours and hours' in the cellar and only one member of the Ashar family was ever kind to her.
The girl wanted to return to her family in Pakistan almost from the moment she arrived in the UK - but the Ashars would not allow it.
The prosecutor added: 'She had no choice over her life; where she lived, what she did, where she slept. She knew nothing else.'
The girl was often slapped or hit and would be dragged up the cellar stairs into the house if she did not come quickly enough when summoned.
After coming to the UK, despite her apparent young age, as a domestic servant she was allowed to remain on an annual basis on condition that she did not make a claim on public funds.
But by July 2005 she was given leave to remain indefinitely - and within two weeks the Ashars began claiming housing, council tax and income support for the girl.
She was never paid for the work she did for the Ashar family but also never received a penny of the £36,045 in benefits they claimed for her.
They noted something was 'amiss' when she got up, went upstairs and, instead of sitting on a chair in the kitchen, sat on a plastic stool.
One officer likened her behaviour to that of an 'animal' - not allowed to sit on the furniture - and an indication of her status in the house.
She was taken from the house and is now doing well with the help of social services, the court heard.
A proceeds of crime hearing will be held next year to recoup the benefits stolen by the Ashars.
They had fought the case at every turn, mounting a series of legal challenges and appealing but failing to overturn their convictions at the Court of Appeal.
Ian Rushton, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service in the North West said: 'They brought her into this country to use her as forced labour, ill-treated her and with the help of their daughter exploited her financially by fraudulently claiming benefits. Worst of all she was repeatedly raped by Ilyas Ashar over a number of years. We have been determined to bring them to justice for this catalogue of abuse.
'Despite her terrible ordeal the victim is now making great progress in life generally, and she has shown immense courage and resilience. She is now free from the abuse that she suffered at the hands of Ilyas and Tallat Ashar and today they are facing up to the consequences of their actions as they begin substantial prison sentences.'
Culled from DAILY MAIL
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