This is teenage Afghan asylum seeker Jan Jahanzeb strutting around the same Midlands park where he brutally raped a 15-year-old girl . Jahanzeb, 17, was yesterday jailed with his fellow Afghan Israr Niazal, 17, for the shocking attack in May of this year, which even one of their own lawyers said was so horrifying it could spark riots if the full details emerged.
But the Daily Mail has reported on astonishing footage from Jahanzeb’s TikTok account which shows him apparently without a care in the world, in the same park in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, where the rape took place. The clip, posted the day after the rape, and only hours before both youths were arrested, shows Jahanzeb posing in a white T-shirt and jeans to the backing of a popular Pashto song called Yari Tawan Lari.
Other videos on Jahanzeb’s TikTok show him with his partner-in-crime Niazal in what appears to be the same park a few days before the attack. In some of the videos on Jahanzeb’s page from before he arrived in Britain, his life in Belgium and France is depicted as carefree, with him wandering around parks in the sunshine, taking videos, often dressed in gleaming white trainers and T-shirts bearing the name of designers such as Louis Vuitton.
Jahanzeb’s TikTok videos reveal stark contrast to brutal crime
In July, at what appears to be an amusement park, a friend is videoing him preening for the camera when two girls walk past and jokingly make heart signs with their fingers, which elicits a bashful smile from Jahanzeb. In another, while posing in traditional Pashtun dress in a park, the three-star tattoo on his neck is clearly visible.
Ironically, given his crime, in another TikTok video which he reposts, he appears to be staking his claim for women’s rights in Afghanistan. A poster of a schoolgirl being silenced with a man’s hand around her mouth is accompanied by an anti-Taliban sentiment: “May God destroy the oppressors, the poor virgins of our country, Amen”, accompanied by Afghan flag and crying emojis.
Details emerge of pair’s asylum claims to Home Office
The videos came as more details emerged of the pair’s asylum claims to the Home Office after they both arrived in Britain on small boats within two months of each other. Niazal came to the UK in November 2024, claiming that his father had been killed by the Taliban, while Jahanzeb arrived in January of this year, after living in Belgium for some time.
He told the authorities his crossing to the UK was his fourth attempt, having been thwarted by French police on earlier tries. His story was that he was being threatened by relatives of a fatal car crash involving Jahanzeb’s father. Both teenagers were temporarily housed in Kent, before being sent to council care in Warwickshire.
Judge accepts legal challenge to lift ban on naming attackers
Ahead of sentencing them yesterday, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano accepted a media legal challenge and agreed to lift a ban on naming them, which had been imposed due to their age. The Daily Mail reported how she told Jahanzeb – who will turn 18 in three weeks’ time and received 10 years, eight months in jail: “When you discussed the offence you tried to minimise your responsibility, blaming your co-defendant for getting you involved, and the victim herself for pushing you and kissing you, as well as the fact that you were drunk.
“You say that you are inexperienced in sexual matters; your reluctance to talk about it makes the truth of this assertion difficult to assess, although I do of course understand that given your age your sexual experience is necessarily limited.”
She added: “You left Afghanistan after you say threats were made to you and your family, and you spent about nine months travelling to the UK. You travelled through many countries, often on foot and I am sure that your journey was both difficult and dangerous. I accept that this amounts to a traumatic set of experiences for a young person. I am told that is possible that you are suffering from PTSD.”
Jahanzeb served deportation order, Niazal avoids fate by pleading guilty before 17th birthday
Jahanzeb has already been served a deportation order, but younger Niazal managed to avoid that fate so far by pleading guilty the day before his 17th birthday. Niazal, who was only 16 at the time of the offence, was told by the Judge according to the report: “You still maintain that you believed the victim was consenting,” she said.
“You also say that you do not understand consent as it does not exist in Afghanistan. However, you are able to discuss issues of consent in a way which demonstrates in my judgment that you do have an understanding of the concept.
“You came to the UK from Afghanistan in November 2024, having fled due to fears of the Taliban. You had limited formal education. Your father is believed to have been killed by the Taliban and your mother suffers with mental health difficulties. Your journey to the UK took nine months and was arduous and traumatic. Your childhood experiences have had a significant effect on your cognitive development.
“I am told you are committed to building a future in the UK. Whether that happens or not is a matter for another court.”
