Sister of runaway 14-year-old girl raped in squalid flat speaks out about family’s harrowing ordeal

The woman, who is the child’s legal carer, bravely shared the nightmare experience in a bid to stop other troubled and vulnerable teenagers falling prey to dangerous paedophiles.

Her younger sister was alone at Keighley Bus Station waiting for a 15-year-old friend when she was approached by Abid Hussain who asked if she had run away, grabbed her arm and took her to a filthy flat nearby.

The child was later joined at the address by her friend, who had fled from her foster mother, and both girls were plied with vodka, stripped and violated in turn by 41-year-old Hussain who was locked up at Bradford Crown Court on Monday.

Hussain, who was living rough in Bradford and Keighley, pleaded guilty to twice raping the 14-year-old, sexually assaulting her and repeated sexual activity with her 15-year-old friend.

Judge David Hatton QC branded Hussain “unspeakably depraved.” He gave him an extended 17 year prison sentence, with 12 years behind bars and five years on closely monitored licence.

The rape victim’s family have since left the area and she is starting a new life, but she has been left devastated by what Hussain did to her seven months ago.

The woman, who was herself raped by a babysitter when she was the same age as her sister, knew something was very wrong after the police found the girls wandering around Keighley in the early hours, dishevelled and intoxicated.

Her sister had run away from home after a minor family row. She had truanted from school before but had never absconded like this and her family and the police were out looking for her.

The woman told how she arrived at the bus station only minutes after Hussain had lured the child from there to the flat.

“We actually walked past the flat where she was. It is heart breaking to think we were so close to her. I feel so guilty about that,” she said.

After she returned home, the child’s sister immediately spotted a change in her.

“She seemed to be walking funnily and she mentioned she had blacked out in the night and I knew something was mega wrong. She looked like she had the whole world on her shoulders.

“I have been the victim of sexual assault and so I knew the signs. She was at risk of sexual exploitation, purely because she was a vulnerable girl who had gone through the care system, but she did not drink or take drugs and she had never had sex. She was so innocent for her age,” she said.

The woman said her sister was in her legal care because their parents had a large number of children, close together in age, and could not cope.

Later that day, she received a call from the 15-year-old’s carer saying both girls had been raped.

“The police were already on their way. My sister took them to the bus station and showed them the flat. It looked so seedy and abandoned. She was amazingly brave and gave a really good description of Hussain and the other men with him,” the woman said.

She said many rape victims felt such shame and blame that they never came forward.

“As a victim, it is a soul destroying crime. It eats you from the inside out.

“Some days, it has been normal family life for us, and other days she is very down. She has self-harmed and has regular nightmares.

“I tell her that her new school is her sanctuary. Nobody there knows what has happened to her.

“Christmas is a bit of a downer this year. In some ways, we just want to get it over and get into the New Year and start afresh.”

The woman added: “Nobody is invincible. It is difficult to have to admit, but women are physically the weaker sex and they need to be “on point” and look after themselves.

“You hear so much from the court side of these cases and not so much about the after effect on the victim and the family.

“It has been a terrible thing to have to go through. Rape affects both the victim and the family’s whole future. It completely changes the person. It is a deeply damaging crime.”