Further men guilty of sexually abusing girl in care

Four further men have been found guilty of sexually abusing a girl who was living in a children's home in Bradford in the early 2000s.

A total of 13 men have now been convicted of offences against the girl, known as "Anna", including a man who groomed and "married" her when she was 15.

Earlier, Mohammed Baig, 47, Sohail Hussain, 40, Mohammed Suleman, 45, and Khurram Iqbal, 40, were convicted of sexual offences at Bradford Crown Court.

Baig, Hussain, Suleman and Iqbal, all from Bradford, were released on conditional bail and are due to be sentenced at the same court on 22 October.

The court heard Anna was sexually exploited by men from the age of 13, and the abuse continued after she was moved to a children's home.

Baig was convicted of three counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault, with Hussain found guilty of rape and indecent assault.

Suleman was convicted of two counts of indecent assault and Iqbal was convicted of indecent assault and found not guilty of rape.

Anna spoke to the BBC in 2019 about being groomed after seeing one of her abusers, Basharat Khaliq, in a Look North TV news report about sexual exploitation.

Khaliq, 45, was convicted in 2025 of her rape and indecent assault and jailed for 21 years.

In a separate trial, a jury was told that Anna had an Islamic wedding ceremony at the age of 15 to Raja Zulqurnean, who groomed and abused her.

Zulqurnean, 43, was jailed for 18 years for rape and indecent assault but the sentence was later increased to 23 years by appeal court judges.

The court previously heard Anna was in care at the time of the "wedding" and her social worker, Anwar Meah, attended the ceremony despite other staff warning him that Anna was being exploited.

The BBC understands Meah was later questioned by police on suspicion of malfeasance in public office but no further action was taken. He provided no further comment to the BBC when approached.

Anna, who has the right to lifelong anonymity, said the trials had been "emotionally exhausting" and added: "There were times when I really struggled having to relive what happened to me over and over again."

During trials in 2025 and 2026, the court heard police records showed Anna was reported missing 101 times between 2002 and 2004.

In care documents seen by the BBC, social workers at the children's home recorded that Anna was "going out with Asian men late at night and not reporting to staff about where she had been".

Another record said Anna was "going off with Asian lads much older than her who have made attempts to rape/assault her".

Prosecutor Kama Melly KC told the court the men had targeted the girl because "her vulnerability was plain" and that Anna described herself back then as being "passed around like candy".

Melly told jurors: "These males gave her somewhere to be, company, attention – anywhere was better than sitting on the streets and it was obvious to those males that she didn't actually want to be doing what was expected of her."

West Yorkshire Police admitted there had been past failings, and since the Jay report in 2014 it had taken a "proactive stance" to investigate these cases and explore previous disclosures relating to "non-recent group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse".

Following the convictions on Wednesday, Det Ch Insp Vicky Greenbank said: "These men abused her for their own sexual gratification and without Anna's courage to come forward and report these offences to us they would still be out in society.

"I hope Anna's story raises awareness of these crimes and if anyone has suffered this kind of abuse, please come forward and report it to us."

In June, the national independent inquiry into grooming gangs announced a local investigation will focus on Bradford and Keighley as well as Oldham and London.

Anna said she wanted to see "a fundamental overhaul of the support available to survivors" before the inquiry started.

She continued: "Too many survivors are expected to revisit the most traumatic experiences of their lives without the level of support they truly need."

Councillor Sally Birch, Bradford Council's portfolio holder for children and families, called Anna's abuse "abhorrent".

Referring to Bradford and Keighley being two of the first areas where independent inquiries will take place, she said: "It is vitally important for all the victims and survivors of these appalling crimes that the local investigation helps establish the facts in cases like Anna's so that there is accountability for what happened."

Anna added: "PTSD doesn't switch off at five o'clock on a Friday, so support shouldn't either.

"If society is asking survivors to relive the darkest moments of their childhood in the pursuit of truth and accountability, then it has a responsibility to stand beside them every step of the way."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.