An Afghan migrant has been sentenced to 14 years in prison in the UK for r@ping two 14-year-old girls after allegedly gro0ming them on Snapchat and supplying them with vodka.
Sultani Bakatash, 29, targeted one of the girls on the social media app before inviting her and a friend to his flat in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on December 6 last year.
He plied them with vodka until they were unconscious and r@ped both of them.
Bakatash then fled the property before being arrested the next day, after the Child Protection Investigation Unit of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) launched an investigation.
He was convicted of two counts of r@pe, two of ass@ult by penetration and one additional charge of s£xual ass@ult at court in July.
Bakatash, a former Afghan soldier who had been granted indefinite leave to remain after arriving in the UK with his mother and two sisters in 2022, had denied all the offences.
The court heard that he first met one of the girls three months before the ass@ults outside a McDonald’s, where Bakatash said she asked him to buy her food.
He claimed the girl told him she was 18 and added him on Snapchat.
The day he carried out the attacks, he said he awoke at around 2 pm and saw his mother and sisters at his flat.
He later met the girl and the second teenager at McDonald’s before buying them three bottles of vodka.
Bakatash then took them back to his flat where the three of them drank vodka, despite him previously claiming he didn’t drink alcohol due to his Muslim faith.
‘I think Satan took over me and I had a drink from the bottle,’ Bakatash told the court.
He tried to claim he fell asleep before asking the two girls to leave his flat because they were being noisy.
He had previously told police that sexual activity with both girls was consensual and that they had said they were 18 and 19 years old, but retracted that position before trial.
But the jury ruled he raped both girls after hearing how they were drunk to the point of passing out.
The court heard that the girls became intoxicated to the point of falling over, at which point Bakatash dragged them both to the ground and began assaulting them.
One remembered going to the toilet before finding herself on Bakatash’s bed, where he raped her.
The second was sexually assaulted and raped after she tried to push him off of her.
Both girls left the flat and raised the alarm with a neighbour, who called for help.
Police officers arrived to find both of them ‘extremely distressed’ and with bruises and abrasions to their bodies.
After the attacks, the girls left Bakatash’s flat and sought help. Bakatash was arrested at his brother’s house the next morning.
After the trial, Chief Superintendent Helen Critchley, District Commander for Bolton for GMP, said: ‘I would like to thank both survivors for their immense bravery during these proceedings.
‘Their unwavering strength and courage has been instrumental in securing this conviction.
‘Bakatash denied all counts against him. He denied manipulating, grooming, and assaulting both girls. He denied the pain and hurt he subjected them to. He showed a blatant disregard for his actions and the long-term impact this would have on the victims. But today a jury rightfully found him guilty on all counts.
‘This trial will have been no doubt a difficult time for the girls and their families, and it is only with their support that we have managed to keep Bakatash behind bars.
‘I urge anyone who may have experienced similar abuse to please come forward and report. You will always be listened to, respected, and supported.’