Protests after Afghans charged with rape of girl

HUNDREDS MARCH IN MIDLAND TOWN AMID ‘ASYLUM SEEKERS’ ROW

- SOPHIE ROBINSON

HUNDREDS of protesters marched through a Midland town after two men, reported to be Afghan asylum seekers, were charged over the rape of a 12-year-old girl.

The crowd, also protesting against asylum hotels and houses of multiple occupation, significantly outnumbered Stand Up to Racism counter-protesters outside Nuneaton’s Town Hall on Saturday afternoon.

Police said the protest was peaceful, with one arrest of a 17-year-old boy.

The protests come after Warwickshire Police said Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, had been charged with rape, while Mohammad Kabir, 23, was charged with kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting rape of a girl under 13 after an alleged incident in Nuneaton.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and the youngest council leader in the country, George Finch, who is leader of Warwickshire County Council, claimed there had been a “cover-up” of details about the alleged rape.

Warwickshire Police chief constable Alex Franklin-Smith said the force “did not and will not” cover up alleged criminality and had followed national guidance.