Cops accused of ‘cover-up’ after failing to reveal men charged with raping girl, 12, are Afghan asylum seekers

COPS have been accused of a “cover-up” after allegedly failing to reveal that men charged with raping a 12-year-old girl are asylum seekers.

Two men were charged after a girl was allegedly kidnapped, raped and strangled.

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Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, is accused of raping of the underage girl in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, on July 22.

A second man, Mohammad Kabir, also 23, has been charged with aiding and abetting rape, as well as strangulation and kidnap of the girl.

The leader of Warwickshire county council and Reform party politician George Finch claimed there has been a “cover up”.

He alleged the two men were asylum seekers, and accused the police of hiding this from the public.

Mr Finch claimed that the chief executive of the council, Monica Fogarty, told him Kabir was an asylum seeker living in a house of multiple occupancy.

He said locals were able to “join the dots together” and came to the same assumption.

While police are under no obligation to reveal a suspect’s nationality, cops allegedly told local politicians and officials not to reveal it in this case over fears of “inflaming community tensions”, The Times reported.

The roads where suspects live are usually named, but in this case were kept secret.

An official claimed police feared the area would become a hotbed for protests like those outside a migrant hotel in Epping, Essex, last month.

Mr Finch called for the Home Office to remove all asylum seekers living in HMOs in the county.

According to The Times, he wrote: “Our local community has had enough of the Home Office breaking planning regulations to turn sections of local communities into unrecognisable, ghetto-like zones.

“I am disgusted that one year from the social unrest that we saw in parts of the UK in 2024, the Home Office and police have clearly not learned the lessons from the handling of similar incidents last year.”

After the tragic killing of three children in Southport, false stories spread online that the culprit Axel Rudakubana was an ­illegal asylum-seeker.

Rudakubana targeted children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class – stabbing Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, to death and injuring 10 others.

It unfolded on July 29 as children enjoyed the workshop at a community centre.

And the horror did not stop there, with riots tearing through communities due to misinformation online.

Migrant hotels became targets as an information vacuum “allowed disinformation to flourish”, with investigators struggling to set the record straight. 

In the aftermath, The Home Affairs Select Committee called for a review of what police can put into the public domain.

Last month, Epping made the headlines after becoming a hotspot for protests outside of asylum seeker hotels.

The protest, outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, began peacefully but escalated into what officers described as “scattered incidents of violence” targeting police and property.

Eight officers were injured and a number of police vehicles were damaged as missiles were thrown.

The Warwickshire assault allegedly unfolded between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Tuesday, July 22.

CCTV footage from a nearby doorbell camera appeared to show a man walking with the girl at around 8pm.

Cops detained the suspect on Saturday 26, and he was charged the following day.

He appeared at Coventry Magistrates’ Court on Monday and was remanded in custody.

Both defendants will next appear at Warwick Crown Court on August 26.

Warwickshire Police said in a statement: “When something significant happens, we brief these partners and local elected officials on the circumstances of the crime, the investigation, the work being undertaken to arrest those responsible and how local people and partners can help a concerned community.

“Where relevant, sensitive information around locations, details of the crime and policing activity to catch offenders can be shared, with a warning that this is sensitive or confidential information and disclosure by those being briefed could affect future court hearings.

“Once someone is charged with an offence, we follow national guidance.

“This guidance does not include sharing ethnicity or immigration status.”

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