A life ruined by false accusations

[Ben]

[url="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=452350&in_page_id=1770"]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1770[/url]


[quote][i]
Falsely accused of rape by a drunken girl he rescued, Aftab Ahmed was cleared and lauded by police for his decency. Little did he realise his nightmare was only just beginning . . [/i].

Even Aftab Ahmed's arresting officer said he couldn't imagine a kinder or more responsible cab driver, exactly the sort of person a parent would want ferrying their daughter home after a night out.

But for Aftab these words, as kind as they are, rang rather hollow. Because 12 months after he was cleared of rape and days after his 17-year-old accuser was jailed for perverting the course of justice, he is still being ostracised by his former colleagues, his neighbours and the Muslim community to which he belongs.

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[img]http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/04_02/taxigirlNEW2404_468x508.jpg[/img]

[b][i]Left: The false accuser, now 17, whose identity cannot be revealed. Aftab Ahmed (right): 'No one wants to talk to me now'[/b][/i]

'Only yesterday, my two 11-year-old girls were playing outside in the street and one of them ran inside to me looking very distressed,' says Aftab, 44, from Bradford. 'She said that two teenage boys had come up and shouted: "Your daddy's a rapist." Imagine what that does to my children.

They are bewildered. They don't fully understand what it means, only that it's something very, very bad. How can I ever explain it to them?

'I have done nothing wrong, I have even been commended by the police for the way I looked after my accuser. Now she has been punished, and yet I still feel as if I am walking around with a sign on my chest saying "Rapist".

'I have gone into debt because my taxi licence was taken away when the charges were brought, and my wife was put on anti-depressants. Our lives have been ruined.'

The bitter irony is that on the night Aftab's family life was torn apart 14 months ago, he was trying to save another family from their own potential tragedy. His only crime was trying to take an honourable course of action.

That night, he was parked in line at one of Bradford city centre's busiest taxi ranks when two young girls stumbled towards his cab, clearly worse for wear.

The youngest, Aftab's accuser - whose identity is protected for legal reasons - was then only 16 and so drunk she was incapable of stringing a sentence together, let alone telling Aftab her address. Aftab could easily have refused to take the fare, but as the father of two daughters his first thought was for the girls' welfare.

'Immediately, I was very worried about the youngest girl. It was 10.15pm, and she could barely stand up. I didn't want to think what might happen to her if she didn't get home,' Aftab recalls.

'I am a father of two girls. When I see young girls, like my passenger that night, I think of their parents and how they'd want them to be safe. That was my only concern that night.'

So, when the 16-year-old girl's older sister left her behind with Aftab - giving a few, vague, verbal directions and pausing only to take the piece of paper Aftab offered with his car registration and contact number before stumbling off herself - his sole concern was to get the girl home safely.

'She was sick in my car six times and struggled to give me directions. It seemed, from what she could say, that it was not her parents' house I was taking her to. But, after about 35 minutes of driving around, I eventually found the street and the house.

'Even then, I realised that my passenger wasn't able to get out of the car herself, she was so drunk. But instead of leaving her alone, or dragging her out on to the street - I didn't think it was appropriate to touch a passenger under any circumstances - I went to knock on the house door.

'Eventually someone who knew her came and carried her out of the car and up to her house. That was about 11pm and then I drove away. I didn't even charge her extra money for the sick in my car or the long journey.'

That, as far as Aftab was concerned, should have been that. Except that two hours later, at 1am, he was picked up by police back at his taxi rank and accused of raping his 16-year- old passenger. The girl, once she had arrived at her destination had dialled 999 believing she had been sexually assaulted by her driver.

Despite realising she was mistaken even before police arrived to take a statement - a fact she admitted last week - she stuck by her accusations, claiming later that she was too scared to change her story.

This led to a six-week investigation, costing £6,000, during which time she led police to a remote moorland spot where she claimed the attack took place. 'Even now, I can understand that she might have been confused,' says Aftab charitably. 'She was very drunk and probably had no memory of coming home. But when she realised nothing had happened, I still don't understand how she could let it go so far. In the process she has wrecked her life and mine.'

Watching Aftab and his wife of 12 years, Amber, aged 33, nervously interact with each other - even now - it is clear how deeply the accusations have affected this once happy family.

'Aftab used to be so close to me and the girls,' Amber says quietly. 'We used to go for long walks on Saturdays, sometimes as a family, or Aftab would take the two girls with him for some quality time.

'Since he was accused of rape, he doesn't like to be alone with them. He worries what they think of him and that people in our community shouldn't see him alone with women. The girls are distraught because they miss their father, and Aftab is so angry that he has been made to feel this way.'

Aftab and Amber first knew each other in Kashmir when they were children. Aged three, Amber moved to Bradford with her parents but in 1993 returned to Pakistan to marry Aftab.

At the time he was a respected police officer in Pakistan, with a degree in political science and Amber, then 19, had been working in a factory in Bradford.

Within three years Amber was pregnant with their twin daughters and the couple decided to relocate to Bradford, in order to provide a better life for their children - Aftab finding work at a security firm and Amber concentrating on her duties as a housewife and mother.

'We worked hard but we had a lovely life,' says Aftab. 'My job brought in good money. Every year we could afford to fly out to Kashmir and we even bought ourselves a three-bedroom semi in Bradford. I was very proud of everything I had achieved.'

Amber agrees: 'Things were perfect. We weren't affluent, but we supported ourselves very well. Our two daughters adored their father and many people in the local community looked up to Aftab. He was always laughing and telling jokes. People used to say he lit up the area.'

In the early months of 2000, Aftab started work as a taxi driver. The money was good and the hours more flexible - allowing him to spend more time with the family he adored.

But as a driver in Bradford's busy town centre, he was all too accustomed to the perils of binge-drinking teenagers.

'I think alcohol is a huge problem for young people today. Every weekend there are hundreds of young girls who have spent all night drinking and they are out of their senses.

'And with the 24-hour licensing, these girls can drink all night. It is very dangerous. I would not want my daughters to grow up like that.

'I often had to look after drunk girls, and my priority was always to get them home safely. The last thing I wanted to do was leave anyone out on the street. They are so vulnerable, anything could happen to them.'

And indeed, that was exactly what went through Aftab's mind when he brought his 16-year-old accuser home on that fateful Saturday night in February last year. Though he might have felt he'd done her a good turn, the brutal reality of her monstrous lie soon became all too clear. By 1am Aftab was sitting in a police cell, facing accusations of rape.

'Honestly, I thought the young girl would sober up and remember that all I'd done was take her home, then ring and tell the police the truth,' he says.

'I had nothing to hide and when the police took me to the station, I demanded that they call my wife and explain everything to her. I remember the arresting officer saying: "Do you want me to tell her about the rape allegation?" And I replied, of course, because I had done nothing wrong.'

For Amber the news, however untrue, was devastating. Shuddering at the recollection, she says: 'Not for one moment did I ever doubt my husband. We have an incredibly strong marriage, and I love him dearly. But I can't even begin to describe how I felt when the police rang me.

'My whole body felt like it was collapsing - not because I worried the accusations were true, but because I couldn't bear to think of my husband in such an awful situation.'

After hours of questioning and a 'humiliating' naked forensic examination, Aftab was finally released on unconditional police bail. 'My car had been taken in for forensic analysis and my taxi licence - my livelihood - had been revoked. I had been a police officer myself, so I understood why it was important to do these things - and the safety of passengers is crucial. But personally, I was shattered by it.

'Back at home, all I could do was wait to hear from the police. I didn't want to go out because I was so ashamed, and I feared the community would turn against my family.'

Amber was similarly affected: 'Those first few weeks and months, the only time I ever left the house was to buy food and visit my mother, who lived round the corner.

'Thankfully she stood by us as well, but people didn't want to know us. In the Asian community, once they hear something, their minds are made up. There is no innocence until proven guilty. It felt as though, because Aftab had been accused, he'd committed the crime.'

For two long, painful months the family remained indoors while police conducted their investigations - pursuing witness accounts and forensic tests on Aftab, his car and the young girl.

It quickly became clear there was no evidence whatsoever that either an attack had taken place or that Aftab could be linked to it. In late April 2006 all charges were withdrawn.

'Of course I was relieved,' says Aftab. 'One of the police officers even congratulated me on my conduct on the night of the alleged attack and said I had done the right thing trying to get the girl home safely.

'But it couldn't make up for what had happened to my life. Because my taxi licence had been taken away I had to borrow money to help repay the mortgage and feed my children.

'And even after I was cleared, I had to go through the courts to fight to get my licence back - which took three months and more money in solicitor's fees. During that time I went nearly £12,000 in debt.'

Six months ago, Aftab started working again, but this time for himself. His old friends at the taxi firm appeared still to doubt his character. Amber says: 'This young girl refused to admit she made the allegations up.

'Even though Aftab had been cleared and the police were investigating her for perverting the course of justice, she refused to come clean. So everybody still doubted Aftab - I guess people believe there's no smoke without fire.

'Every day, he would sit at home and get angry and frustrated. People would look at him strangely when he was out on the street or in his car and he could do nothing about it. And some of the younger children tried to start fights with him by shouting out things like "rapist", but Aftab never did anything back.

'He would never attack someone, but when he would get home he would get angry and sit in a corner on his own. He didn't want to sit with the family. Our girls miss having their happy father around. He is not the same person.'

Finally, in April, 14 months after the original incident, the girl, now 17, admitted to making the allegations up and perverting the course of justice. In court last week, she was sentenced to four months detention. District Judge David Thomas said: 'What you did had disastrous consequences so far as Mr Ahmed was concerned. I accept fully that you have great remorse for what has happened. But I don't want you or anyone else to have the impression that people can make up these allegations and get away with it.'

Sadly, for Aftab and Amber, this 'justice' is far too little, far too late. While Aftab, the innocent victim, has had his name dragged through the mud the young girl, and her anonymity, have been protected.

'I am very angry that she will walk free in four months' time and no one will know what she has done,' says Aftab.

'She should be named and shamed so if any cab driver picks her up again, they will know to be careful. Also, so that she might have some idea of what I have had to suffer.'

Last month, the couple suffered a further injustice. They had to put their beloved home - the one they have worked honestly for, for 13 years - up for sale because Aftab couldn't earn the money they needed to keep it.

Amber admits that just the thought of moving makes her shake physically. And she knows their new home, like their new life, will be smaller (they still owe £12,000 to their creditors).

'In a few weeks' time we may not even have a home, and I don't know if my husband will get over this terrible experience. This girl was given four months for what she did, but she has taken our whole life.'[/quote]

[Guest BlackJesus]

[font="Arial Narrow"][size=3][b]Part of me wishes that her punishment could be tossing her into a prison block to be violently gang raped ...


Her offense should at least be one that garners 15 years in prison if not more - not 4 months. [/b][/size][/font] [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/23.gif[/img]

[Ben]

[quote name='BlackJesus' post='481999' date='May 3 2007, 02:46 PM'][font="Arial Narrow"][size=3][b]Part of me wishes that her punishment could be tossing her into a prison block to be violently gang raped ...
Her offense should at least be one that garners 15 years in prison if not more - not 4 months. [/b][/size][/font] [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/23.gif[/img][/quote]

Plus she gets to keep her anonymity.

[|Bengal Migration|]

Now that is one fucked up story.

[Ben]

[quote name='WhoDeyUK' post='482001' date='May 3 2007, 02:48 PM']Now that is one fucked up story.[/quote]

These kind of stories are getting more common too Devalues the claims of real rape victims and as this guy is finding out, the accusations never dissapear

[Guest BlackJesus]

[font="Arial Narrow"][size=3][b]To me there is probably no greater offense than to purposely lie about rape and ruin someone elses life and their families.

This kind of offense is so henious to me that I could even be persuaded to favor the death penalty for it.


This cunt should have her face plastered out to the world ... and hopefully the rules of Irony & Karma will strike and she will be raped by someone soon. [/b][/size][/font]

[sois]

That's terrible. Man, this guy is going through hell. I don't know how many people could survive that mess. I hope he and his family wind up ok. I'd send him a couple of bucks if I knew where to find the guy.

[Khatmandude]

[quote name='sois' post='482068' date='May 3 2007, 06:36 PM']That's terrible. Man, this guy is going through hell. I don't know how many people could survive that mess. I hope he and his family wind up ok. I'd send him a couple of bucks if I knew where to find the guy.[/quote]

Send the money to me, he's Pakistani....I'm Pakistani so surely we must know one another.

[Guest BlackJesus]

[quote name='IKOTA' post='482086' date='May 3 2007, 05:26 PM']I'm Pakistani[/quote]


[font="Arial Narrow"][size=3][b]I didn't know you drove a cab [/b][/size][/font]

[Khatmandude]

[quote name='BlackJesus' post='482091' date='May 3 2007, 06:58 PM'][font="Arial Narrow"][size=3][b]I didn't know you drove a cab [/b][/size][/font][/quote]

[img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons//24.gif[/img]

Now you do, if you need a ride from the airport when you come in for a game, let me know...I will have a drunk 16 year old waiting for you in the backseat.









Sorry, I know that was tasteless.......yet I couldn't resist.

[|Bengal Migration|]

[quote name='IKOTA' post='482099' date='May 3 2007, 10:37 PM'][img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons//24.gif[/img]

Now you do, if you need a ride from the airport when you come in for a game, let me know...I will have a drunk 16 year old waiting for you in the backseat.
Sorry, I know that was tasteless.......yet I couldn't resist.[/quote]





















[img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons//24.gif[/img]

[|Bunghole|]

One can only imagine how many false rape accusations have ruined how many lives...especially during the American Jim Crow period....shit like Emmet Till...and all he did was supposedly whistle at a white woman....such crap...

[MULLY]

You know, the newspapers plastering his innocence on the front page wouldn't hurt. News programs making it a lead story etc... would help clear his name. But we all know that shit ain't gonna happen. When he was accused it was probably everywhere. After he was let go there probably wasn't more than a blurb about it.

I'm not saying the cunt shouldn't be punished, she should be, harshly, but the media should help put this guys life back on track too.
MULLY

[WhoDeeez]

[center]That is a nightmare...
What's more scary is that it can happen to anyone.
It's becoming more and more common.
Shame.[/center]

[Guest Tigris]

Horrible, horrible thing to do... dumb slut. I can't believe the penalty wasn't more harsh.