Pakistani man jailed for subjecting woman to ‘terrifying’ sexual assault

A WOMAN has described how her “smile and happiness” had been taken by a man who attacked her as she slept in a hotel in Wales.

Umair Farooq from Rangapura in Sialkot, Pakistan, appeared before a judge at Mold crown court last week. He admitted to an assault by penetration and trespass with an intent to commit a sexual offence, and was sentenced to

four and-a-half years in prison.

At a hearing last Thursday (13), prosecutor Simon Rogers told the court the victim had travelled to North Wales with a friend and stayed at a hotel in Denbighshire.

They first met Farooq, 42, at the hotel bar where he allegedly made them “uncomfortable” as he appeared to watch them from a distance. The duo left for another pub soon afterwards and returned to the hotel around 10 pm local time.

Rogers said the victim woke up a little later and was shocked to see Farooq inside the room. The woman reportedly pushed the man, who had got his hands on a key, and ran to her friend. They then called the police.

When he was confronted at the reception desk of the hotel, Farooq told the woman’s friend he was “just checking on her” and the room’s key was in the door. He also said, “I’m Muslim, I wouldn’t do that.”

In addition, Farooq told the police he didn’t know “what was allowed” in Britain and thought it was fine to enter the victim’s room.

The woman, on the other hand, called him a “monster” in her victim impact statement. “I don’t get how this happens in a quiet hotel in Wales. I can’t get his face out of my head or his hands off my body. I feel like I’ve lost myself to a man and I don’t even know who he is. He took my smile and happiness,” she said.

Simon Mintz, defending, told the court there was little he could say to minimise his client’s “wholly uncharacteristic” actions. He told the judge that Farooq was a respected businessman with a wife and four children in Pakistan. He also said that Farooq would face “extra difficulties” in a prison in the UK, including language barriers and being kept away from his family for a while.

Judge Rhys Rowlands said the woman had an “utterly terrifying experience” and he could not ignore the trauma she faced when Farooq assaulted her,

reported.