The ringleader of a gang of 12 Asian paedophiles who abused a 13-year-old girl was able to fly out of Britain 'on holiday' after his arrest and is 'having the time of his life' on the run.

Arif Chowdhury, 20, who would rape the schoolgirl while laughing in her face, managed to fly to Bangladesh while on bail in 2012 - a country with no extradition treaty with Britain.

He then set up a Facebook page as a self-styled 'international gangster' to taunt police and said in one message posted since he fled: 'Love is a game and life is pain. My life is thug life'.

His aunt Rashona Begum, 38, said his new life is 'like heaven' and the child abuser is now 'learning the meaning of life'.

Fled: Ringleader Arif Chowdhury, 20, (left) fled the country after his arrest for raping the 13-year-old victim (posed by model), who was reported missing to police 71 times while she was abused by the 12-man gang

She told The Sun: 'He didn't run away because he raped a girl. He went there for a better life. He's having a really good time.

'He's a different person now. Once he is completely improved he will hand himself in.'

The rape gang he marshaled were jailed for 143 years yesterday as it emerged the 13-year-old girl they passed around for sex was reported missing 71 times but police failed to rescue her.

The men of Pakistani origin subjected the schoolgirl, now 18, to repeated brutal rapes and beatings but police told her worried mother to keep a diary of the girl's movements instead.

It was the girl's bravery in giving evidence that helped bring the gang from Keighley, West Yorkshire, to justice and a judge jailed the gang for a total of 143 years yesterday.

The case echoes the abuse of young girls by Asian grooming gangs in Rochdale and Rotherham, where police ignored vulnerable victims and avoided arresting predominantly Asian men fearing they would seem racist.

Victims campaigner David Hines told The Sun: 'I'm sure police heard the alarm bells. They just decided to ignore the noise. The Government has to get a handle on this. It can't carry on.'

Chowdhury and his friends terrorised the vulnerable teenager and orchestrated most of the other sex attacks by Asian men he knew.

Meanwhile the groomed girl's terrified mother reported her missing from home 71 times before the gang stopped.

Bradford Crown Court heard the girl came from an unhappy home and had been rejected by her mother, a heavy drinker, which may have led to the police not taking it seriously.

Khalid Mahood (left), 34, was given an extended sentence of 17 years and Saqib Younis (right), 29, from Keighley jailed for 13 years at Bradford Crown Court

Faisal Khan (left), 27, from Keighley was jailed for 13 years at Bradford Crown Court and Sufyan Ziarab (right), 22, from Keighley, Yorkshire, for 15 years

Tanqueer Hussain (left), 23, from Keighley was jailed for 13 years and received a five year consecutive sentence for the rape of a second underage victim. Bilal Ziarab (right), 21, from Bradford, was jailed for 12 years

Yesterday a local councillor caused outrage yesterday after appearing to dismiss the scandal saying: 'It takes two to tango',

Although he condemned the gang he said: 'It takes two to Tango, there are bad apples, but it doesn't mean to say everyone is bad.

'There is some feeling from some people that she played her part in it, the victim had a part to play, I couldn't make any comment on that but it's not widespread.'

The men joked in the dock and waved to supporters in the public gallery yesterday before being given sentences ranging from three-and-a-half to 20 years.

Judge Roger Thomas, QC, told them: 'The attitudes the majority of you have so clearly demonstrated to these proceedings has been contemptuous, disrespectful and arrogant on a scale I have hardly seen before in many years of practice in criminal law.' The attackers – all from Keighley, West Yorkshire – took 'terrible and heartless sexual advantage' of the girl, he said.

Most of the jobless paedophiles led a 'feckless and unattractive' life, smoking drugs and hanging around in an underground car park, added the judge.

When Chowdhury offered the vulnerable teenager up as a sex object, the men lined up and raped her time and time again.

Judge Thomas said: 'She clearly demanded pity and understanding but their view of her was heartless and demeaning.

'They showed her no shred of decency or humanity when, as a vulnerable child, she so needed care and understanding.'

Yasser Kabir (left), 25, from was jailed for 15 years and Nasir Khan, 22, from Keighley, was jailed for 13 years

Mohammed Akram, 63, was jailed for five years for rape at Bradford Crown Court and Hussain Sardar (right), 19, from Keighley received six years detention in a young offenders institution

Israr Ali (left), 19, from Keighley, received three and a half years detention and Zain Ali, 20, from Keighley, received eight years, both in a young defenders institute

During the trial, the jury heard how Chowdhury regularly beat the girl. Some of the sex assaults took place on an old sofa in a disused underground car park. On another occasion, five men raped her in succession in a back lane.

Even if Chowdhury was not present, the threat of what he might do was enough to ensure the terrified girl did not flee.

Throughout her ordeal, she was known to the police and social services. One social worker even took her to have a contraceptive coil fitted at the age of just 14.

Eventually in May 2012, she was put in care. Now aged 18, she told in a statement how she still suffered from the physical and mental effects of her ordeal.

'Trust issues affect every aspect of my life,' she said. 'I have struggled to remain in control of my emotions and life in general.'

After the case, Kris Hopkins, Tory MP for Keighley, said: 'The sick model of groups of Asian men grooming young white girls to be sexually abused remains a blight at the heart of many communities. Sadly Keighley is at the top of the list.'

Local councillor Zafar Ali told MailOnline that grooming was 'not Islamic'. But he added: 'It takes two to tango, there are bad apples, but it doesn't mean everyone is bad. There is some feeling that the victim had a part to play.'

Chowdhury escaped justice in 2013 and is believed to be in Bangladesh, effectively beyond the reach of the UK authorities.

The rapists are: Yasser Kabir, 25, jailed for 20 years (sentence also for raping two other girls aged five to nine when a teenager); Khalid Mahmood, 34, jailed for 17 years: Sufyan Ziarab, 23, jailed for 15 years; Bilal Ziarab, 21, for 12 years; Nazir Khan, 24, Saqib Younis, 29, and Faisal Khan, 27, all for 13 years; Tauqueer Hussain, 23, for 18 years (sentence also for raping a second underage girl in 2009).

Zain Ali, 20, was given eight years in a young offenders' institution for rape; Hussain Sardar, 19, was given six years and Israr Ali, 19, three-and-a-half years.

Mohammed Akram got five years for sexual activity with a child.