Speaking through an interpreter, the migrant told the court: “I like children and she was a child.”
Apr 25, 2026
A migrant who kidnapped and sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl at a taxpayer-funded hotel had previously written in his asylum application that he had been with the Taliban since childhood. Afsar Safi, 30, was jailed for two and a half years after being found guilty of kidnapping and sexually assaulting the child.
The incident happened at a hotel in Acton, West London, in September. Safi, who arrived in the UK in 2021, lured the girl away from her mother with an apple before dragging her along a corridor by the arm. The child managed to escape after alerting security staff.
During the trial at Isleworth Crown Court, the girl told jurors how frightened she had felt.
She said: “I could not tell him to go away because I was too scared. He put his arms around me. It feels like he’s coming after me all the time. My nightmares feel like they are real, so I cry sometimes.”
Safi was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for seven years. However, he could be released on licence after serving just six months,
During sentencing, it emerged that Safi had stated in his asylum application that he had been with the Taliban since the age of ten.
His asylum claim was refused and he is appealing the decision.
Speaking through a Pashto interpreter, Safi told the court: “I like children and she was a child. I asked her where she was going.
“She said she was waiting for her mother to go shopping. I kissed her to the face. I kissed her out of the love for children. Back home all the people do that.”
His barrister said Safi had been taken by the Taliban as a slave and had received only three years of education.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2198295/migrant-sexually-assaulted-girl-taliban-uk