Man charged with raping 12-year-old girl told police he ‘thought she was 23 or 24’

Prosecutors allege Ahmad Mulakhil and Mohammad Kabir “targeted” the 12-year-old on 22nd July 2025 at around 6pm, with Kabir intending to take her away for a sexual purpose and Mulakhil raping her after 8pm.

Mulakhil told police: “She told my friend she’s 19, but I didn’t ask her.

“I thought she was old enough, I thought she could be 23 or 24.

“It was my first time being intimate with a girl, I was like I agree [gave consent] and she was like I agree too.

“She didn’t tell me about her age.”

In November last year, he entered a guilty plea to one count of rape.

On Friday, CCTV clips shown to the jury appeared to show Mulakhil asking the girl how old she was as they talked in a residential street in Nuneaton.

Footage of Mulakhil and the 12-year-old walking together towards and away from the area where he is alleged to have repeatedly raped her was also viewed by jurors.

In his interview with police read out to the court, Mulakhil repeatedly rejected the girl’s account of events and alleged she was following him, before she began initiating sexual activity between the two.

Mulakhil said: “She was insisting and she was following me. She wasn’t scared.

“She was following me with her own consent.”

The jury also heard how the Afghan national understood the age of consent to be “19 to 20”, and when questioned on whether he understood that a girl at the age of 12 can’t have sex, he told police: “That’s understandable, no one will have sex with a 12-year-old.”

Forensic evidence was also presented to jurors today, with a DNA match for Mulakhil being found on marks on the neck of the 12-year-old girl. A forensic expert told jurors she found this consistent with Mulakhil kissing or his lips touching her neck.

DNA, which the expert described as “cellular”, meaning skin or sweat, was also found inside the shorts the girl was wearing at the time of the alleged rapes.

When asked if the DNA being present was “consistent” with the assertion Mulakhil took down her shorts, the forensic expert said: “Yes that is one explanation for the findings.

“If he had no contact with the shorts, I would not have expected to find DNA on the inside front.”

Ahmad Mulakhil denies two other counts of rape, sexual assault, abduction of a child, and taking indecent images of a child.

Mohammad Kabir denies intentional strangulation, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence and attempting to take a child.