"I haven't learned how to live with this."
An accomplice of TikToker Mahek Bukhari, Raees Jamal, had already been convicted of rape long before he was convicted of murder.
Mahek Bukhari, her mother Ansreen, Jamal and Rekhan Karwan were found guilty of two counts of murder after a trial lasting 50 days.
It has now been revealed that Jamal was convicted in 2022 for raping a 17-year-old girl at his Loughborough home.
The trial for the rape took place before the murder trial.
The jury was not told of the rape case to ensure fair verdicts in the murder trial.
Jamal was sentenced to 10 years in prison for rape.
It was heard that Jamal had invited the girl to his home to watch a film just a few days after she had turned 17.
Jamal pinned the victim on his bed and had unprotected sex with her, despite her trying to push him off and repeatedly telling him “no”.
Judge Robert Brown told the victim’s family members:
“She is a victim. She must not think she did anything to cause this rape. She did not. Tell her that from me. I hope it helps her come to terms with this.”
In June 2020, the girl agreed to go out in Loughborough town centre with Jamal and later went back to his home.
Jamal’s parents, who were at the house when she arrived, went off to work a night shift.
Jamal then took the girl upstairs to watch a film. He was “pestering” her for some time before pinning her down and attacking her.
Prosecutor Daren Samat said the girl was 16 when Jamal started chatting to her online.
Describing the day of the rape, he said:
“They went upstairs to watch a film and within minutes the defendant began to pester her.
“She said she didn’t want that. She said no several times and tried to persuade him physically.”
In a letter to police about how the rape had affected her, the girl said she had tried to take her own life and she remained “haunted”.
She said in the letter: “It’s been two years since the rape happened and I still, to this day, get haunted.
“I’ve never felt so isolated and most nights I cry myself to sleep. I haven’t learned how to live with this.”
Mr Samat said: “There is psychological harm here and grooming, via social media, over the course of about six months.”
Ayoub Khan, representing Jamal, tried to argue there had not been any grooming and that the attack had not been sustained but the judge rejected both statements.
Mr Khan added: “He had only just turned 20. He is a young man who had a fairly turbulent upbringing.”
The judge told Jamal:
“When she met you she did not have sex in mind and did not want intimacy in that early stage of your relationship.”
“I think it is justified to describe it as sustained.
“She was trapped. She was pinned on the bed and you overpowered her. She was not egging you on – she repeatedly said ‘no’ and ‘stop it’ and tried to push you off.
“She has undergone severe psychological harm.”
In addition to being jailed for the rape, Jamal received a lifetime restraining order to keep him from contacting his victim and will be on the sex offenders register for life.
He will be back in court on September 1, 2023, to be sentenced for the murder.
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