“These two men have made my existence painful."
Two men have been jailed for a total of 16 years after they carried out a sexual attack on a woman in a Southampton hotel room.
Southampton Crown Court heard that Rameen Farooqy and Pankaj Bangarh filmed themselves carrying out the attack.
On the evening of August 3, 2018, the woman, then aged 18, went out drinking in Southampton with her boyfriend and friends, to celebrate a birthday.
The group met and began drinking at a pub earlier in the evening, before going on to Oceana nightclub.
At one point, the woman’s friends saw her talking to a group of unknown men inside the nightclub.
At around 2 am on August 4, she was seen in the car park, with two of the men.
Her boyfriend called out to her to prevent her from getting into the car, however, she was intoxicated and did not appear to recognise him.
She then got into the car with the men and it drove off.
Later that morning, the woman woke to find herself in a room at the Winston Hotel with the two men.
She called her mother to obtain her postcode as she could not remember. The men then drove her home.
The woman then contacted Treetops Sexual Assault Referral Centre for advice. The next day, she told police what happened.
An investigation was subsequently launched.
During the investigation, it was found that the men had filmed themselves while they sexually assaulted the woman.
In video clips, she was said to have been shown lying naked on the floor.
The court heard that Farooqi encouraged Bangarh to attack her.
Both men were charged with attempted rape and sexual assault.
They denied the allegations but were found guilty following a trial.
Rob Byrne, prosecuting, read out extracts of the woman’s victim personal statement.
It said: “In my dreams, I try to fight off my attackers but my arms don’t work.
“These two men have made my existence painful.
“They have made me feel like if I let my guard down for even a second, something will happen to me.
“They took away my worth, my privacy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice.
“All I have to say to them is, how dare you.”
Defending Farooqy, Iain Suggett, said that “they did not abandon her in the street, they took her home” following the incident.
Rebecca Lee, for Bangarh, said:
“He is ashamed of what happened and he is deeply regretful. In my submission, this is quite out of character.”
Judge Peter Henry said the woman was “out of it” and “all but unconscious” while being sexually assaulted.
He said the men stripped the victim of her dignity and degraded her by filming her in the most embarrassing fashion.
He added that there was evidence of severe psychological harm due to the traumatic assault.
Meanwhile, her family said the attack had caused a lifelong impact.
Rameen Farooqy, aged 25, of Harrow, London, was jailed for eight years.
Pankaj Bangarh, aged 27, of Hayes, London was sentenced to eight years in prison.
They must register as sex offenders for life and have been made the subject of an indefinite restraining order, banning them from contacting the victim.
After sentencing, Detective Constable Sue Hampton, of Hampshire Police, said:
“This was undoubtedly a traumatic ordeal for the woman and I cannot praise her enough for the courage and bravery she has shown in coming forward and reporting what happened to her and for the strength she has shown throughout the trial and criminal justice process.”
Loading ...