Assault Survivor's Courage: Oliwia's Story

0:00On April 2nd, a 19-year-old university student named Aliwiyah Zawislakh was sexually assaulted last August 31st in Sheltonham by a 20-year-old Iranian migrant named Abdul Rahman Bonafshah. He'd arrived in the UK by small boat months earlier, seeking asylum. After she left the night out early, he followed her, grabbed her tightly, and dragged her into a house where he pinned her down and grobbed her. She fought back hard, kicking him with all her strength to escape, and immediately called her boyfriend. Police arrested Bonafshah that same day. He was living in home office housing nearby, but staying with the friend for the weekend, the attack left Aliwiyah deeply changed. She dyed her hair black, got tattoos to alter her look, and couldn't walk alone or be touched without panic. Her boyfriend became her constant support, picking her up for work and helping her heal. Bonafshah faced trial, but pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault on the second day. Judge Julian Lambert called it an utterly terrifying ordeal with profound victim impact.

1:02He got 27 months in a young offender institution, sentences running together, plus 10 years on the sex offender's register. Aliwiyah waved her anonymity to inspire other women to report assaults, stressing how support made her come forward. Officials know foreign nationals like him, face deportation after such sentences, underscoring the lasting call to speak out against these crimes.