'Was raped by 600-700 men': UK MP reads shocking testimonies. What are grooming gangs - and what's the Pakistan connection?

British MP Rupert Lowe has reignited debate over the UK's grooming gangs scandal after reading a series of explosive survivor testimonies in Parliament.

Speaking during a debate backed by a petition signed by more than 2.6 lakh people, Lowe urged lawmakers to "finally act" and said findings from his independent inquiry would be published in the coming days.

"I want the world to hear what we heard during the two weeks of our independent rape gang inquiry hearings. An inquiry that should never have needed to happen," he said in his opening remarks. 

Lowe then read testimony after testimony from survivors, describing rape, trafficking, intimidation, violence, and what victims alleged were repeated failures by institutions that should have protected them.

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"So the first testimony, he took his pants down, penetrated me, had sex with me. He then stopped before ejaculation. He picked up the bottle of Jack Daniel's, which was now empty, and he forced it up inside me. He broke the glass while he was there. At that point, I was about 12, nearly 13."

Another survivor described being held down while multiple men "took turns to orally and vaginally rape me". "When the assault ended, the men hit me repeatedly, threatened to find me, kill me, and harm my loved ones if I ever told anybody what had happened."

Lowe also read testimony suggesting race and religion played a role in how some victims were selected and treated. "Another (testimony), comments were constantly made suggesting the white girls, the Christian girls, were viewed as having fewer morals or lower values, whereas Muslim girls were described by some of the men as having dignity and higher moral standing. These comparisons were used to justify the way I was treated and to further humiliate and control me."

One survivor said "white girls" and "Christian girls" were portrayed by abusers as having fewer morals and lower value, while Muslim girls were viewed differently.

Another survivor said race played a part in the selection of victims and that the girls abused alongside her were "almost exclusively white". "Race did play a part and motivated the selection of the demographic of the victims. Throughout my exploitation, the other girls I encountered or who were abused alongside me were almost exclusively white."

"Another, she had a baby by him, and his dad was an Imam. His dad knew, and he got his son married and said that he wasn't allowed to see the child. They look after their own community," the UK MP continued. 

"Another (testimony), over the course of the abuse, I was raped by multiple police officers in different parts of the country. Another (testimony), he put a cigarette out on the baby's face. Another (testimony), it started when I was 13. I was raped by probably about 600 or 700 different men over three years.

Lowe also cited testimony alleging that children in care homes were routinely handed over to abusers.

The MP said he could continue reading testimony "for hours and hours" but urged Parliament to move beyond discussion. "All of us in this building have a responsibility to finally act. Not to talk, but to act," Lowe said. "Our rape gang inquiry report will be released in the coming days. It will change Britain for good."

What are grooming gangs?

In the UK, the term "grooming gangs" is commonly used to describe organised child sexual exploitation networks in which vulnerable children and teenagers were manipulated, trafficked, intimidated, drugged or sexually abused by multiple offenders over long periods.

The issue gained national attention after investigations uncovered organised abuse networks in towns including Rotherham, Rochdale and Oldham. 

The ongoing statutory inquiry into child sexual abuse says it is examining "the sexual abuse and exploitation of children by grooming gangs across England and Wales".

Reports of girls being groomed by gangs of men first gained political attention in 2002 when Labour MP Ann Cryer warned that it was occurring in her West Yorkshire constituency of Keighley.

The issue widened into a national scandal after five men were convicted in 2010 of sexual offences against girls aged 12 to 16 in Rotherham. Subsequent investigations, including reporting by The Times, exposed both the scale of child sexual exploitation and failures by authorities to intervene.

In the years that followed, gangs were convicted in more than a dozen towns, including Rochdale, Oldham, Telford, Bristol, Oxford, Huddersfield, Halifax, and Banbury.

The Casey audit and renewed scrutiny

The issue returned to the political spotlight in early 2025 when Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Home Secretary commissioned an investigation led by Baroness Louise Casey.

The review was conducted over March, April, and May 2025 and examined institutional responses to grooming gang cases.

According to the government, the audit found evidence of victims as young as 10 being targeted, particularly children in care and those with learning or physical disabilities.

It also described cases where perpetrators remained free because authorities failed to connect evidence or because systems designed to protect children instead failed them.

The Home Secretary said the audit identified "deep-rooted institutional failures" stretching back decades and found that "blindness, ignorance, prejudice, defensiveness and even good but misdirected intentions" had contributed to those failures.

What is Pakistan's connection with grooming gangs? 

One of the most contentious aspects of the grooming gangs scandal concerns the ethnicity of some convicted offenders.

The Home Secretary told Parliament that local data examined by the Casey audit found "clear evidence of over-representation among suspects of Asian and Pakistani-heritage men" in three police force areas.

Baroness Casey's review examined local-level data from Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, regions that have featured prominently in grooming gang investigations.

According to the government, suspects involved in group-based child sexual offences in those areas were disproportionately likely to be Asian men, particularly men of Pakistani heritage.

Pakistani-origin men convicted 

Pakistan-born Mohammed Zahid, 65, described as a grooming gang ringleader, was jailed for 35 years in October 2025 after being convicted of raping two schoolgirls, the BBC reported in October 2025. 

Zahid, known as "Boss Man", gave the girls free underwear from his market stall and expected sex in return for himself and his associates, the report said. 

Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, and Kasir Bashir, 50, both born in Pakistan, were convicted of repeated counts of rape and indecency involving one of the victims and jailed for 27 and 29 years, respectively.

Mohammed Shahzad, 44, Naheem Akram, 49, and Nisar Hussain, 41, were convicted of repeated rape offences against another victim and jailed for 26, 26, and 19 years respectively.

Pakistan-born Roheez Khan, 39, was convicted of rape and jailed for 12 years.

The BBC also reported that Zahid had previously been jailed in 2016 after being convicted of engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl he met through his market stall.