Trio appear in court accused of raping teenage girls in Rotherham

Three men have appeared in court charged with rape and other offences following an investigation into the abuse of two teenage girls in Rotherham.

Basharat Dad, 40, Nasser Dad, 44, and Reza Tavakoli, 54, were arrested as part of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) Operation Stovewood, which is investigating child sexual exploitation in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013.

The NCA said the trio appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The agency said the alleged offences happened in the Rotherham area between March 2004 and December 2009 and involved two female victims who were aged between 13 and 16 at the time.

Basharat Dad, formerly of Rotherham, is charged with 13 counts of rape, four offences of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation, and one offence of false imprisonment.

Nasser Dad, also formerly of Rotherham, is charged with two counts of rape.

Reza Tavakoli, of Upperthorpe, Sheffield, is charged with one offence of rape and one of false imprisonment.

Basharat Dad and Nasser Dad were remanded in custody and Tavakoli was bailed, the NCA said.

They will appear at Sheffield Crown Court on February 17.

Operation Stovewood was set up in the wake of the landmark Jay Report which found in 2014 that at least 1,400 girls were abused by gangs of men of mainly Pakistani heritage in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

The NCA says Stovewood is the single largest law enforcement operation of its kind ever undertaken in the UK and has identified more than 1,100 children involved in the exploitation between 1997 and 2013 – almost all girls.

Previous estimates have put the cost of Operation Stovewood at around £90 million.

Published: 20/01/2025 by Radio NewsHub