Sex assault Koran tutor is jailed

Mangera had denied all the charges

A tutor who indecently assaulted a girl as she read the Koran to him at her home in the 1970s and 1980s has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Yusuf Mangera, 56, of St Barnabas Road, Leicester, was employed by the girl's father to visit the family home and teach the children to read the Koran.

He was convicted of indecent assault at Leicester Crown Court in October.

Judge David Price said the victim had lived with "a sense of shame" for more than 25 years before coming forward.

The trial heard Mangera indecently assaulted the girl, who is now a married woman, over a period of about two years in the late 1970s to early 1980s.

Brother dismissed

The woman said her younger brother was often dismissed from the room and the tutor, then in his 20s, fondled her as she read to him.

She said he began by touching her knee under the Koran as she read, but later became more bold, progressing to touching under her clothes.

The woman told the court she tried to prevent the abuse continuing by wearing tight clothes and trying to avoid lessons.

She said she told her mother at the time, but was told not to be "daft".

She eventually told her father once it became apparent he planned to hire the same tutor for her younger sister.

Last year she decided to report the matter to police after undergoing IVF treatment with her husband and qualifying as a counsellor, she told the court.

'Wrong and shameful'

Throughout the trial Mangera, who appeared in court with an interpreter, had denied all the charges and said it never happened.

Judge Price told him: "The offences were aggravated by the fact that, as you well know, in your culture and religion the mere touching of a young female who is not a member of your family is thought to be wrong and shameful.

"You did all that to her when her parents placed absolute trust in you as an Hafiz and a scholar of the Koran.

"Her parents had no fear for her safety when she was with you, but you abused that trust.

I am glad though that in the end I found the courage to speak out Victim

"As a result of the position you held within your community the sense of shame the girl suffered was even more profound.

"In particular she has developed a fear of her body being touched. This has led to complications for her in receiving medical treatment."

Mangera was also disqualified from working with children.

Speaking after the hearing, the victim said: "I am glad though that in the end I found the courage to speak out.

"I did so in the hope of protecting other children from harm but I also hope that in some small way obtaining criminal justice finally helps me to lay this terrible chapter in my life to rest".

Det Con Jamie Carr, who led the investigation, said: "It is never too late for someone to come forward if they have been a victim of child abuse.

"Today's sentence just shows as far as 28 years later, we can still bring someone before the courts and justice can be done for anyone else who has been a victim of similar abuse."