An Afghan suspected of rape and murder managed to enter the UK under a false name after crossing the Channel, raising concerns over border security. Rasuili Zubaidullah, 22, sparked fears after it was revealed that he cross the channel in a boat carrying a refugees and sought asylum just weeks raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl in Austria.
Zubaidullah was one of the most wanted in Austria. However, after having managed to get asylum in the UK as an Afghan refugee under a false name, he was safely staying in a hotel at British taxpayers' expense, till he was identified a few days back.
Highly Risky
Zubaidullah was arrested by the National Extradition Unit on July 29 after officers received a tip-off from Austrian police where he is wanted for brutally attacking and raping a 13-year-old girl in Vienna. However, it wasn't until three weeks that he managed to stay safely in a London hotel as an Afghan refugee under a fake name.
Although the incident happened on July 29, it was reported only on Sunday. Zubaidullah was arrested from an Ibis hotel in Whitechapel, east London and is now facing extradition process. It is understood Zubaidullah provided Border Force officers in Kent with a false name and other fake details when he entered the country on July 18.
However, what is more surprising is no one suspected him, which raises serious questions on the quality of checks being made on refugees coming to the UK after the Taliban took control over Afghanistan. Moreover, the news comes at a time when record numbers of migrants are crossing the Channel – with over 14,000 making the journey since the start of the year.
Finally in the Net
Zubaidullah was being looked for by Austrian police after the body of a 13-year-old girl, known only by her first name Leonie, was found propped up by a tree in central Vienna on June 26. However, he had fled the country by that time. The girl was reportedly, gagged, drugged and then gang raped before being murdered.
The schoolgirl from the city of Wiener Neustadt, was reported missing by her mother Melanie, 40, and father Hannes, 39, three days before she was found raped and murdered. Austrian police started looking for Zubaidullah after he was traced as part of a group that boasted on social media about having "wild sex" with Leonie.
Investigation revealed that Leonie had agreed to meet Zubaidullah and his 16-year-old friend in a nightlife district along the Danube Canal on June 25, after they got introduced on Instagram. Upon meeting Zubaidullah and his friend, she was taken to an apartment where there were two other men, aged 18 and 23, including a drug dealer.
She was then given ecstasy by the drug dealer. According to police, the girl was then gang raped and suffocated to death before the killers rolled her body in a carpet and dumped it around 100 yards from the apartment. A manhunt for Zubaidullah, after he identified, was launched. Police initially believed that he had slipped to Italy.
However, he didn't go there and instead safely made it to the UK after faking his name. It is believed, Zubaidullah hopped on a train at Innsbruck before making his way across Europe to northern France, where he paid people smugglers for his passage across the Channel. At least two of the men suspected of being involved were facing deportation prior to the murder.
After Austrian police learnt that, they informed UK police, following which the fugitive was arrested in London. On September 3, Zubaidullah appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court via video link from Wandsworth prison in south-west London to face extradition proceedings. He is scheduled to appear in court on October 1 and faces a full extradition hearing in January.
