London: An NRI Karate instructor has been
accused of having "countless" sex sessions with a teenaged
schoolgirl who attended his martial arts classes, a British
court has heard.
According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, 48-year-old
Jaspal Riat had sexual relationship with the girl when she was
aged 13 and 14, Gloucester Crown Court heard yesterday.
The girl has died since the alleged offences, which took
place between February 2008 and May 2009.
The girl broke her silence about the alleged affair when
she feared she might be pregnant and confided with a nurse at
her school in Kidderminster, Worcs, the court was told.
Alan Kent, prosecutor, told the jury that Riat groomed
the girl with compliments and sexual comments and bombarded
her with text messages, finally telling her he had fallen in
love with her.
The girl was confused but flattered by his attention and
Riat kissed after a training session then plied her with
drink at his flat before having sex with her, Kent said.
"The next thing she remembered was waking up next morning
naked in bed with the man on top of her having sex with her,"
he told the court. "Thereafter, there were countless occasions
where sexual activity took place between them."
Riat from Birmingham, denies two charges of raping the
girl, one charge of sexual assault and eight of sexual
activity with a child. The court heard the girl confessed to
the nurse, Elizabeth Swann, in December 2008.
However, when Swann said she would have to speak to her
superiors, the girl changed her story, claiming she had an
18-year-old boyfriend.
She died in May 2009 after taking a massive overdose of
tablets.
When questioned by police, Riat said the girl had sent
him sexually explicit texts and pictures of herself and
claimed she had made the allegations because he would not let
her train for her black belt.
PTI
