A deaf girl of 10 was trafficked into the UK, repeatedly raped, kept in a cellar and treated as a virtual slave for almost a decade, a court has heard.
The orphaned youngster from Pakistan, who is profoundly deaf and has no speech, was locked in a cellar each night, where she would sleep on a concrete floor and by day was forced to work for no money and was sexually assaulted, Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester was told on Thursday.
Her alleged abusers were Ilyas Ashar, 83, and his wife, Tallat Ashar, 66, who deny charges of false imprisonment, human trafficking, sexual offences, violence and benefit fraud.
If their alleged victim displeased them she would be forced into their cellar, where the girl would "sit there for hours crying and locked in", the court heard.
They kept the girl, now aged between 19 and 21, at their home in Salford, Greater Manchester after bringing her into Britain from Pakistan in June 2000, Peter Cadwallader, prosecuting, told the jury.
The victim's true age is not known but it is thought she was aged between 10 and 12 when she came to the UK, allowed in by immigration on the basis she was to work as a domestic servant.
But it was a "mystery and matter of concern" how a child that age could get through immigration and there may be "significant and proper" criticism of the Border Agency, whose role had a "good deal to answer for", the prosecutor said.
Although supposed to be employed as a domestic help, she was never paid and just given food and lodging, Cadwallader told the jury.
Instead the girl was made to cook, clean, do the washing and ironing for the Ashars and clean the houses and cars of their family and friends, the court heard.
She was also kept in the cellar to work for hours packing football shirts and clothes and mobile phone covers, the jury was told.
The alleged victim had no family or friends in the UK and had never been to school in Pakistan or Britain.
She cannot read or write and the only people she knew in Britain were the Ashars, who told her both her parents were dead.
She was, however, taught to write her signature - so her name could be used to claim benefits, it is alleged.
Despite her disabilities, the victim has an average, or higher, intelligence level, the jury was told.
Cadwallader said: "We believe you will find her to be a remarkably resilient young woman who tells things as they are."
Ilyas and Tallat Ashar both deny two counts of human trafficking into the UK for exploitation and a single count of false imprisonment.
Ilyas also denies 12 counts of rape, Tallat denies one count of sexual assault and unlawful wounding and the pair along with their daughter Faaiza, 24, deny charges of benefit fraud.
The case continues.
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