Halifax ‘Grooming Gang’: Police Officer Amjad Hussain Among 16 Men Charged With Sexually Abusing Girls

Sixteen men including a police officer, who are accused of being part of an alleged grooming gang in Halifax in UK, have been charged with sexually abusing girls between 13 and 16, BBC reported.

West Yorkshire police officer Amjad Ditta aka Amjad Hussain, 35, has been charged with sexual touching. He and 15 other men are charged with offences against three girls in the Halifax area, dating from 2006 to 2009. The allegations include several counts of rape, sexual assault, supplying drugs and trafficking. Hussain has been suspended from duty as a constable in the force’s Protective Services Operations department.

The principal victim, identified as "Jeanette" in government reports, was 13 when the sexual abuse first began. The grroming gang exploited her desire for friendship and love, deliberately giving her drink and drugs to turn her into an addict. In interviews with the police, she described being raped and abused in many different locations, including private homes in Halifax, Bradford and Manchester, and hotels in Bradford, Leeds and London.

A 2018 report by Quilliam, a London-based think tank,“Group Based Child Sexual Exploitation: Dissecting Grooming Gangs” (authored by Haras Rafiq and Muna Adil) pointed out that grooming gang are mostly “of Pakistani origin with Muslim heritage”. The Quilliam report pinned the blame on the “culture” of Muslim communities.

BBC also listed the names of 15 other men charged with sexually abusing girls -

• Metab Islam, 46, is accused of rape, supply of a class C drug, sexual assault and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
• Arfan Mir, 36 and also known as Khalifa Mughal, is charged with rape, supply of class A and class C drugs and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
• Nadeem Nassir, 39, and Shahzad Nawaz, 40, are both accused of rape, supply of a class C drug and making threats to kill.
• Vaseem Adalat, 33, is charged with rape, trafficking and supply of a class C drug.
• Christopher Eastwood, 45, Vaqaas Abbas, 30, Nadeem Adalat, 34, Shazad Nazir, 44, and Sohail Zafar, 36, are all charged with rape and supplying a class C drug.
• Asad Mahmood, 33, is accused of rape and trafficking.
• Younis Mohammed, aged 34 and also known as Younis Khan, is charged with rape and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
• Sajid Adalat, 43, and Mohammed Rizwan Iqbal, 34, are charged with rape. Ishtiaq Latif, 32, is accused of sexual activity with a child.