She Was Stargazing on Her First Date. Then Two Afghan Illegal Migrants Put a Knife to Her Companion’s Throat and Took Turns R.a.p.i.n.g Her
A woman enjoying a quiet first date under the stars in an east London park was overpowered, threatened, and repeatedly raped at knifepoint by two Afghan men who had entered Britain illegally. The attack, which left her suffocated and numb, unfolded around 11 p.m. on August 16, 2025, in Barking Park.
The victim had been messaging her date for about two weeks through an online app before they met in person. He brought a guitar. They lay together looking at the night sky when Khan Agah and Noorullah Ahmdzai approached. The pair pinned her down and told her they “just wanted to have some fun with her.” Ahmdzai, 26, raped her while Agah held a Swiss Army-style knife to her companion’s throat and threatened to kill him if he called police. The men then switched roles. Prosecutors described the assault as petrifying; the woman was suffocated during the ordeal.
Both men were later convicted at Snaresbrook Crown Court of two counts of rape, two counts of threatening with a knife, assault by penetration, and false imprisonment. A jury of five men and seven women rejected Ahmdzai’s claim that the woman had offered them sex for £20. DNA recovered from her clothing shortly after the attack linked the pair to the crime.
Ahmdzai arrived in Britain on a small boat in August 2023. He was initially housed in a Home Office hotel in London at public expense, then moved to Liverpool. His asylum claim was refused; he returned to London while pursuing an appeal and took construction work. Agah also entered the country illegally; his exact route remains unclear. During the trial Agah claimed he was 16 at the time of the attack (now 17), but court records listed him as 19. A temporary reporting restriction on his name was lifted after a public-interest argument succeeded.
The judge has ordered a dangerousness assessment and an age report on Agah. Sentencing is scheduled for October. Because the expected prison terms will exceed one year, Home Office guidance indicates both men should be deported after serving their sentences.
The investigating officer later praised the victim’s courage in reporting the crime and reliving it in court, noting that her testimony ensured two dangerous men would be held accountable. The woman cannot be identified for legal reasons.
The case has drawn attention to the backgrounds of the offenders and the circumstances that allowed them to remain in the country after illegal entry and a refused asylum claim. The victim’s first date, intended as a simple evening of music and stars, ended in a prolonged, violent assault that she described as leaving her numb. The convictions close the trial phase, but the full sentences and any subsequent immigration action remain pending.
