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Sick rapist attacked girl, 15, in flowerbed after dragging her around Westfield
Rufat Kasamaj has been jailed for over a decade for the "truly dreadful" attack
A sexual predator raped a vulnerable teenager after she became separated from her friends at a venue in Westfield Stratford shopping centre. Rufat Kasamaj, 36, had targeted the intoxicated 15-year-old before leading her to a secluded alleyway and sexually assaulting her in a flowerbed.
His young victim had been with her friends at the venue Bat and Ball, which nearly lost its licence as a result of the incident. She had been served alcohol despite being underage, with the Metropolitan Police’s PC Gary Watson informing Newham Council that there had been no challenge from bar staff despite that group looking “considerably less” than 18.
At around 10:30pm on September 4, 2021, she was “heavily under the influence of alcohol” and was approached by Kasamaj, who was caught on CCTV observing her. Prosecutor Tim Forster told the Old Bailey: “She became separated from her friends after one of them got involved in some sort of fight and from her recollection, the defendant started touching her on her bum right at the start."
READ MORE: Newham murder victim named and pictured for first time as police hunt suspect
Asif Zaman entered a restricted area of Westfields shopping centre at Stratford
Rufat Kasamaj targeted the girl after he first saw her walking around Westfield Stratford (Image: Getty Images)
“She told him she had lost her friends and he attempted to give her reassurance but the Crown say this was clearly a pretence," he added. "He told her he would help her get home. He did quite the opposite.
"He started putting his hand down the back of her leggings, his finger into her vagina, she told him she was 15 but he continued doing it aggressively so that it caused her pain. All the while he was guiding her or steering her as they walked around the shopping centre.”
He continued: ”From the moment he helped her stand up he was almost always bodily holding her throughout, even steering her past a seat when she wanted to sit down. He can be seen with his hand down the back of her leggings. That is consistent with her recollection that he digitally penetrated her vagina and he was doing that even while they were walking past members of the public.”
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After leading her outside, he was caught on CCTV steering his victim towards an area of concrete benches to continue the assault. Despite the victim appearing “totally unresponsive”, members of the public continued to walk past, which attracted the attention of Kasamaj.
“It is because of that, the Crown suggests, the defendant dragged the victim further into a flowerbed and even reached over to pick up her handbag so that he continue the more serious aspects of the sexual assault and the rape,” Mr Forster continued.
They were then out of sight from the CCTV cameras for a further 20 minutes, at which point he raped her despite her crying and begging “please don’t hurt me”.
Taking to the witness stand in person, Kasamaj's victim tearfully said that she had been left "constantly reliving my worst nightmare" (Image: Met Police)
The prosecutor continued: “After the defendant comes out of the hidden area, he zips up his trousers and walks away with hardly a backwards glance. The victim then emerges dazed and unsteady on her feet and approaches members of the public.” A local resident who was out jogging helped her contact her dad and accompanied her home to meet her family at the train station, who then informed the police.
Following the rape, Kasamaj was seen returning to the scene of his crime on two occasions and at one point urinated there. Following a police investigation, he was subsequently arrested and claimed that he had been “unconscious” during the assault. However, it was noted by the prosecutor that there was “nothing from his demeanour to suggest he was intoxicated".
Taking to the witness stand in person, his victim tearfully said that she had been left "constantly reliving my worst nightmare" and that she had been forced to miss out on her education and take medication due to stress. “I had to sleep with my bedroom light on through fear and anxiousness. I had loads of sleepless nights crying myself to sleep with thoughts of suicide running through my head. This is what you had done to me,” she said.
Kasamaj, an Albanian national, pleaded guilty to one count of rape. Sentencing him to 10-and-a-half years in prison, Judge Mark Dennis KC said: "On September 4 last year you committed a truly dreadful offence, subjecting your 15-year-old victim to a traumatic ordeal, showing no pity or concern for her suffering in pursuit of your own sexually violent gratification.
“Even though you had been drinking that evening you were far from drunk as the CCTV shows. In a calculated way you chose to take advantage of a lone female who was clearly in no position to protect herself from any such assault. It was plainly her young age and her vulnerability that you recognised and seized upon, regardless of the irrevocable harm you would inflict upon her.”
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Kasamaj, of Leyton, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years with a five-year extended licence period.
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