Nearly 200 Sikh men and women gathered around a council flat in Hounslow, England, on Sunday evening, where they alleged that a 34-year-old Afghan man was looking after a 16-year-old Sikh girl, a Times of India (TOI) report said.
The schoolgirl’s parents contacted the Slough Gurdwara for help because they were desperate for their daughter, who had left home to live with a man. She had been seeing the man since she was 14 or 15 and was allegedly groomed, the report said, citing protesters.
The report further cited a video posted on Instagram that showed a Sikh man from the group confronting the man on the stairs. “You’ve brainwashed her and manipulated her. This isn’t Afghanistan, this is England. Why can’t you find someone your own age?” the report quoted the man as
What are the charges against the Afghan?
He claimed the Afghan national held the girl in his flat from 5am to 10pm along with five or six other men. The Afghan replied that he was in love with her and claimed to be unaware of her age.
Livemint could not independently verify the report.
The neighbor said she had observed many underage girls entering the Afghan apartment over a nine-year period and also said she reported it to the police several times. “There’s about four guys in there,” the report quoted a neighbor as saying. “It’s disgusting. The apartment was raided for drugs and is close to a school.
According to the report, people gathered outside shouted “Pedos out”. One protester said: “Parents have gone to the police many times and nothing is being done.”
Jaspal Singh of the Shere Punjab group is seen in the video knocking on the man’s door. The police arrived, eventually took the man away in a van, and the girl returned to her family, who were part of the demonstration.
“Why did the Sikhs have to stop this when the police couldn’t? This is shameful. We are doing the job of the police. The Sikh community has dealt with this for many years and we have had enough,” the report quoted Jaspal as saying.
Meanwhile, Sikh Youth UK launched a national inquiry into Sikh victims of grooming gangs.
