Imam 'raped girl, 13, in mosque'

A Muslim cleric "systematically indecently assaulted and finally raped" a girl in a mosque, it is alleged.

Manzoor Hussain, 42, assaulted the girl over eight months in Bristol, beginning when she was 12, said prosecutor Martin Meeke QC at Exeter Crown Court.

Mr Hussain of Ashley Street, St Paul's in Bristol, pleaded not guilty to four charges of indecent assault and one of rape between July 1996 and March 1997.

Mr Meeke told the jury that Mr Hussain breached the trust reposed in him.

The indictment did not charge every instance of indecent assault, he added.

'Testing water'

Mr Hussain was appointed imam in 1991 at the mosque in a converted terraced house in Bristol, the jury was told.

He was employed to lead prayers and teach children to read the Koran.

The first attack happened when he asked the girl to help lay out benches at the mosque, it was claimed.

"As she was doing that he came up behind her and pulled down her headscarf," said the prosecutor.

"The girl tried to pull up the scarf, and ran away and Hussain pulled her towards him.

"But he grabbed her and kissed her full on the lips," the jury was told.

"You may conclude he was testing the water, seeing whether she would make a complaint," said Mr Meeke.

The alleged rape happened after Mr Hussain asked the girl - then 13 - to carry boxes upstairs at the mosque.

The case continues.