Ilford predator Anthony Anantharajah raped girl at Plymouth party

Anthony Anantharajah, 35, raped a 16-year-old girl at a party in Plymouth in February 2017. 

The girl texted friends to say she was at a party with older men and wanted to leave as she felt vulnerable.  

She eventually fell asleep on Anantharajah’s bed but woke up to find him raping her.  

She managed to get away from the house but was found crying uncontrollably and hyperventilating in the street by a member of the public who called 999.  

Anantharajah was arrested a few minutes later but flatly denied any sexual contact with the teenager. 

The predator has now been brought to justice following a police investigation into the rapes of four young girls at house parties in the Plymouth area. 

Detectives uncovered that Anantharajah was part of a grooming gang alongside Abalzaq Salih, 31, from Plymouth, and Saif Kahya, 32, from Liverpool. 

Four victims, all aged between 14 and 16, came forward to tell police they were lured to house parties where they were exploited through money, drink and drugs before being raped at the defendants’ houses. 

Prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds said the men were in their 20s or 30s at the time and there was a clear “power imbalance.” 

He said: “These events had one thing in common – they were designed by these defendants and others to exploit vulnerable young girls; to get them away from whatever family structures they had, give them money, drink and drugs, and then to sexually assault them when their defences were down. 

“These girls voluntarily entered the world created for them by these men. A world of parties in houses or locations chosen by the men. A world where they were made to feel grown up and given things they wanted. But a world in which they could be abused. 

“And abused in a way which these defendants hoped meant that the girls could never tell anyone in authority about. Whether through guilt for being there in the first place, fear, or an inability to remember what had happened to them as a result of the drink and drugs.” 

On August 20, 2024, Anantharajah was convicted of one count of rape of a female aged 16 or over, but cleared of engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 15 or under after a trial at Plymouth Crown Court. 

Salih was convicted of two counts of rape of a female aged 15 or under, while Kahya was found guilty of one count of rape of a female aged 16 or over. 

A fourth man, 45-year-old Moussa Ahmadou, from Plymouth, was found not guilty of sexual assault on a female. 

Left to right: Salih, Kahya and Anantharajah (Image: Devon and Cornwall Police) Claire Brinton, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “These three men exploited four young girls through drugs, alcohol and money. Their victims were groomed and subjected to rape.  

“These defendants conducted a vicious and vile campaign of sexual abuse, in some instances multiple times against these victims, which must have caused life changing harm and trauma.” 

All three men have been remanded in custody and will be sentenced in September.