Five men from Rotherham, allegedly part of “Asian grooming gangs”, are facing 23 charges of sexually abusing two girls, aged 12 and 13, over a two-year period.

In the first of two cases, a woman, now 28, claims she was forced to take drugs and drink alcohol before being raped by brothers Basharat Dad, now 32, and Nassar, now 36.

She met the men after skipping school, and the alleged attacks 16 years ago left her unable to identify the father of her child when it was born. The crimes are alleged to have taken place in a flat owned by the brothers’ family.

Prosecutor Sophie Drake told the court that the men had targeted “vulnerable young girls,” according to the Daily Mail.

“She was scared so she let them do what they wanted. They both raped her and she submitted to them,” added Mrs. Drake

“The brothers knew she was only 12 at the time. They gave her alcohol and drugs and were aggressive to her and she felt she had no choice.”

A third brother, Tayab Dad, is standing trial separately for raping a 13-year-old who was attacked in the same flat.

“As young teenagers in Rotherham they were sexually exploited by a number of men, they were vulnerable and given alcohol and cannabis and told to perform sexual acts,” Mrs. Drake said.

The police were involved at the time, with the 12-year-old naming her attackers after she fell pregnant. The brothers were arrested in 2001, along with Matloob Hussain, a 25-year-old takeaway delivery driver, and Mohammed Sadiq, then 24.

However, no charges were brought, despite the seriousness of the allegations. The government’s Jay Report describes how Rotherham authorities failed to intervene in numerous similar cases for fear of being labelled “racist”.

Muslim rape gangs blighted the town Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, with more than 1,200 girls affected according to a government report. However, the religion of this latest group of “Asian” attackers has not been reported.

The alleged offences only resurfaced when South Yorkshire Police began investigating the sexual exploitation of young girls in Rotherham in 2014, shortly before the Jay Report was published.

The then-13-year-old victim said she remembers waking up naked in bed, arguing that this proves she could not have consented to sex, even if of age, as she was asleep.

Mrs. Drake said: “The brothers were aware she was under 16 and knew she was at school. They supplied her with alcohol and cannabis so that they could do what they wanted to.”