Gangs ‘have groomed Sikh girls in the UK for decades’

GANGS of predominantly Pakistani men have been grooming British Sikh girls for decades, according to claims in a bombshell report.

The study alleges that young Sikh women have been ‘targeted’ by Muslim men who subjected them to sexual abuse.

The report by the Sikh Mediation and Rehabilitation Team charity found that police ‘recklessly ignored’ complaints – often for reasons of ‘political correctness’.

In many cases, according to the report, the men would groom a girl before passing her round to other members of their family.

The girls would be snared by ‘fashionably dressed adult Pakistani men travelling in flamboyant vehicles to predominantly Sikh dominated areas and schools’, it claimed. The report said that while the revelation of grooming gangs targeting white girls in Rochdale shocked the nation in 2012, similar instances had long been taking place under the radar in Britain’s Sikh communities.

Sikh community leaders say the problem started in the 1960s. The charity said the report was not a ‘witch-hunt against any individual, community, culture or faith’ – but said nothing would change unless the facts were known.

Last night, Labour MP Sarah Champion said: ‘I was shocked when I first heard about the organised abuse of Sikh girls by mostly Pakistani men.

‘There needs to be a full investigation into the systematic abuse of Sikh girls.’