(Warning: Distressing content) The teen had been coming home from a night out with her mum and friends.
A teenager was dragged by an attacker into a house where he sexually assaulted her (Image: Gloucestershire Constabulary )
A teenager has bravely waived her right to anonymity after being pulled into a house and sexually assaulted by an Iranian asylum seeker.
Oliwia Zawislak, 19, was walking home after enjoying a night with her mum and friends on August 31 last year when she was approached by Abdolrahman Banafsha, 20, at around midnight. The predator had walked past Oliwia before turning around and following her at a distance. Then, after she tripped on a side street, he got hold of her from behind and picked her up off the floor. Panicked, the university student tried to walk away, telling him she had a boyfriend and needed to go home, but Banafsha had a firm grip on her.
When they walked past a nearby pub, Oliwia asked if she could use the toilets, but she was told they were shut. The sex offender then grabbed Oliwia by the arm and dragged her back towards his accommodation in Cheltenham. Once inside his house, she ran to the bathroom and tried to plan her exit, but Banafsha pushed her to the ground, tried kissing her and began touching her breasts, legs and over her clothing. She screamed and kicked him off and managed to flee from her attacker’s house while screaming.
Recalling the assault, Oliwia, a university student from Gloucester, said: “I remember he forcefully pushing me into the house, and I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.
“I tried to come up with a plan in my head where I’d use the bathroom and then just completely went out of the house. But as I tried to run out, he pushed me to the floor, and he had both of my wrists pinned back and onto the floor.
“I started to panic because I realised I couldn’t get away at that moment in time. I was just telling myself to prepare for the worst.
“He kept trying to kiss me all over my face, and my neck, and he had his hands underneath the top I was wearing and was trying to get into my jeans.
“I realised I still had my legs free, so I just kicked him with all the force and the energy that I had in my legs and ran out of the apartment and called my boyfriend straight away, telling him what happened.”
Banafsha, who had travelled to the UK by a small boat in March 2024 as he believed his life was at risk, was arrested by police later that day. He has been sentenced to 27 months in a young offender’s institution and will be placed on the Sex Offender’s Register for 10 years, during which he must notify police of any change of address.
He had been living in Home Office accommodation outside of Gloucestershire, and had travelled to Cheltenham for the weekend to stay with a friend when he attacked Oliwia.
Oliwia has since struggled with physical touch and has completely changed her look.
She said: “I didn’t want to be touched for a while, and I really struggled being on my own. Any time I had work, I’d have my boyfriend pick me up or take me to work because I didn’t want to walk on my own. I struggled being home alone.
“I don’t think I’m the same person that I was, not just mentally but physically I died my hair black and I got a bunch of tattoos. I just didn’t want to look like that anymore. My boyfriend has been really good, supportive and helping me try to heal from this trauma.”
Banafsha was charged with attempted rape. During the first day of his trial last September, CCTV of the victim fleeing his address was played to the court along with a video interview police had conducted with the victim.
He entered guilty pleas for two counts of sexual assault, and this was accepted by the Crown, Oliwia and the police. One count related to Banafsha touching Oliwia’s breasts under her clothing. The second count related to him touching her between her legs and over her clothing.
Until this day Oliwia ‘can’t understand’ why Banafsha kept on assaulting her when she shouted and told him to stop.
“I don’t understand why even after I pushed him off and ran out, he just still continued to follow me as if he wasn’t done with what he was doing,” she explained. “I just don’t understand how my screaming and telling him to stop wasn’t enough.”
The probation service thought Banafsha was a high risk of harm to the public, particularly to females. In mitigation, Banafsha’s defence barrister said that he had changed his mind and pleaded guilty. He said it was a pity that the victim did not alert the woman she spoke to at the pub when asking to use their toilets.
Sentencing Banafsha, His Honour Judge Julian Lambert said: “This was an utterly terrifying ordeal and the victim impact is most profound. People often simply can’t put something like this behind them.
“Assessing culpability, I note an element of predatory about you. I found that from the way in which you were stalking the streets and your persistence with your victim.”
Oliwia decided to waive her anonymity to inspire other women who have been abused to come forward. She said: “If I didn’t have all these people around me telling me to report it, I would not have done it.
“It is very valuable for me to put it out there and to actually take the step. A lot of women don’t do it, and I think it’s important that more women start to do it if they’ve been through it.”
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Helen Goode, said: “The victim has been so brave throughout this entire process, and I thank her for working with us.
“Everyone should be able to go about their daily lives without being targeted by perpetrators who want to commit crimes for their own sexual gratification.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Any foreign national convicted of a criminal offence is immediately referred to the Home Office for deportation.
“Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more.”
To report a rape or other sexual offences, call 999 in an emergency, or report by calling 101 or reporting it online to the police.
If you have been impacted by any themes in this report, you can contact Rape Crisis 24 hours a day on 0808 500 2222 to talk to somebody.