Minshull Street Crown Court, in Manchester, heard how a deaf and mute orphan was trafficked to the UK and raped

Staircase leading to the cellar in the home of Ilyas Ashar and his wife Tallat Ashar in Cromwell Road, Eccles in Salford

Pensioner Ilyas Ashar who trafficked a 10-year-old deaf and mute girl into Britain, keeping her in his cellar to claim benefits, was convicted yesterday of repeatedly raping her.

Ashar, 84, was found guilty of 13 counts of rape against the girl, who is now in her 20s, after she was kept at the home he shared with his wife Tallat in Eccles, Salford, and made to sleep in the “sparse, cold and damp” cellar.

The jury Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard that the girl, who is from Pakistan, and is profoundly deaf and cannot speak, was beaten and slapped as well as being forced to work for Ashar and his family and friends in virtual slavery as a domestic servant. Details of the victim’s ordeal only emerged after she was taught sign language following her accidental discovery in 2009 by trading standards officers who had come to the couple’s house to investigate possible illegal activities.

Ashar used his victim to satisfy his sexual desires as well as enlisting his wife to use the girl’s details to steal more than £30,000 in benefits as well as set up several bank accounts in her name. Two female jurors wept as the guilty verdicts were delivered against Ilyas Ashar, who was warned by Judge Peter Lakin to expect a “substantial prison sentence”. The judge said he was excusing the jurors of further jury service for a decade after hearing traumatic evidence.

Ashar had been convicted at an earlier trial of two counts of trafficking a person into the UK for exploitation and three counts relating to the fraudulent obtaining of benefits. Tallat Ashar, 68, and the couple’s daughter, Faaiza Ashar, 46, were also found guilty at the previous trial of benefit fraud charges.

After that jury had been unable to reach a verdict against Ilyas Ashar on the rape charges, a re-trial was ordered which was the subject of reporting restrictions until yesterday’s convictions. Police described Ilyas Ashar as “pure evil”, having obtained and exploited a victim who had no means to communicate and no contacts beyond his family.

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Salford divisional commander Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle said: “This was a dreadful case where the girl endured years of domestic exploitation at the hands of the Ashar family. They have exploited her disability and made it appear to the authorities that she was responsible for their own fraudulent behaviour. She was essentially kept in domestic servitude.

“What is remarkable - and the most important aspect of this unusual case - is that the victim has emerged a confident, well-adjusted and determined young woman.”

Campaigners expressed concern that the victim was brought to Britain through London’s Heathrow airport in June 2000 around the age of 10 using a passport which gave her age as 20.

Hannah Flint, of Stop The Traffik, said: “It is vital that proper training is provided for police, border agencies, teachers, lawyers and other employers to help them spot the signs of human trafficking.”

Belfast Telegraph