Asylum seeker jailed for nine years after ‘shocking and violent’ rape in a park
An asylum seeker who raped a teenager in a “shocking and violent” attack in a Scottish park has been sentenced to nine years in jail.
Rapualla Ahmadze, from Afghanistan, carried out the attack in Cooper Park, Elgin on Sunday, August 4 last year, after approaching the girl and making “intimidating remarks.”
Ahmadze appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh today for sentencing.
The court was told there was a dispute around his age but he would have been around 20 at the time of the attack.
He had earlier been convicted of rape and a separate charge of threatening or abusive behaviour.
Judge Thomas Welsh KC told him: “You were convicted by the jury on the basis that you acted in a predatory manner and took advantage of a vulnerable teenager who was unknown to you, and you raped her in shocking and violent rape on rough ground in Cooper Park.
“What happened to her that night must have been a horrific ordeal.”
He imposed a sentence of nine years in all, backdated to August 2024, and Ahmadze was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
Edinburgh High Court where Ahmadze was sentenced
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Detective Inspector Sam Buchan said: “Rapualla Ahmadze is a predatory individual who took advantage of a vulnerable young woman for his own gratification.
“He will now face the consequences of his actions. We know this was a deeply worrying incident for many people in the local area and I hope this conviction and sentence sends a strong message that sexual violence has no place in our communities.
“Police Scotland is committed to our role to help create a society where women and girls live free from violence, abuse, exploitation and harassment. This is also reflected in our ongoing commitment to actively pursue perpetrators of violence against women and girls and ensure they are brought to justice.
“We will continue to work with our valued partners across criminal justice, and support services, to improve the opportunities and support for women to report.”
DI Buchan continued: “We are committed to continually improving the service we provide, to build confidence in reporting and in policing more widely. Our service must be trauma-informed, we will prioritise the needs of victims and survivors.”
The court previously heard how the teenager, then aged 17, told police a man stopped in front of her and asked if she had a boyfriend. She said when she replied that she did not, he “told me that he was my boyfriend now.”
The teenager said she was scared she would make him mad if she continued to try and get away. She was then taken to a “tunnel” and pushed to the ground before he molested her.
She was then walked towards the bushes where he raped her. Ahmadze claimed that sex was consensual, the victim was happy and instigated what occurred.
He told the court through an interpreter: “When we went to the bushes, I wanted to leave, but she wanted to have sex with me, and then we have sex.”
Ahmadze, who is also known as was Rafiullah Ahmadzai, was unanimously found guilty by a jury to raping the teenager.
He was also convicted of threatening behaviour on two occasions between March 1 and April 30 last year at a house in Dufftown, Moray, when he acted aggressively and demanded money and the provision of a new shower.
Ahmadze was staying at a hotel in Elgin at one stage but was later rehoused.
