An Afghan refugee is behind bars after facing court twice over an alleged sexual assault spree which began less than a week after he arrived in Mildura, Victoria.
Abdul Qayum Nawabi, 44, landed in Australia on a humanitarian visa on March 26, but just days later faced court accused of kissing and groping a supermarket worker, inappropriately kissing a two-year-old girl, and doing the same to a childcare worker.
He appeared in court on April 4 where a magistrate granted him bail despite the serious charges because he had the support of taxpayer-funded refugee settlement agency AMES Australia and a static address, but just days later he allegedly sexually assaulted another woman.
The Mildura Magistrates’ Court last week heard that Nawabi was at a medical appointment when he allegedly grabbed the hand of the 24-year-old woman treating him and began kissing her arm up towards her shoulder, Sunraysia Daily reported.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Kristen Simm told the court the woman managed to pull her hand away and said the man’s alleged behaviour left her feeling “disgusted”.
She further testified that Nawabi allegedly became aggressive during a police interview, which had to be conducted via interpreter as he does not speak English.
Defence counsel Jamie McConnachie told the court the prosecution was required to prove that the man’s touching and kissing was sexual in nature, and not a “sign of gratitude”, and asked for bail with conditions preventing him from approaching “the types of people that it seems to be happening to”.
Magistrate Patrick Southey responded “Women? They make up half the population”, and said some of the allegations were “very troubling”.
“It may be that his intentions are not actually that evil … they may not be particularly sexual, but that’s very much how some of the complainants view it,” he said.
“It goes well beyond just a kiss on the back of the hand on some occasions.”
He refused Nawabi bail, saying the Afghan national posed an unacceptable risk to the public that no conditions could alleviate.
“What a troubling, unusual case … just left to fend for himself in this country when he’s physically and mentally unwell, (and) doesn’t speak the language,” the magistrate said.
Nawabi will face court again on May 7.
Earlier this month the same court heard that Nawabi’s first three alleged victims were all approached within a three-day period and the encounters began with him attempting to communicate in his native language, Dari.
The prosecutor told the court he first allegedly kissed a supermarket worker’s hand after trying to buy tobacco, then returned to the store the next day, allegedly kissed the back of her hand for about five minutes, caressed her chin, and touched the woman’s breast.
Two days later he allegedly went to a Mildura childcare centre where he approached a mother walking with her two-year-old and pushing her nine-month-old baby in a stroller and tried to begin a conversation in Dari, the court heard.
Nawabi then allegedly took the older child’s sunglasses off and gave her a “lingering and inappropriate” kiss to the top of her hand, and when the mother tried to pull her child away allegedly continued to kiss the girl’s arm from her hand to her elbow.
He allegedly kissed the girl’s arm four or five more times before the mother manage to pull her free.
Nawabi then allegedly loitered around the childcare centre before approaching a staff member who was arriving her work and began kissing her hand, refused to let go, pulled her close to him and kissed her on the cheek
The prosecutor said the woman said it felt like Nawabi’s mouth was “superglued” to her hand.
The court heard that Nawabi denied any wrongdoing, and Magistrate Michael Coughlan warned him his alleged behaviour was “totally unacceptable” in Australian culture while granting him bail to be looked after by AMES.
After Nawabi was granted bail the mother of his alleged child victim shared a photo of him with the local community along with a detail description of her daughter’s alleged ordeal and a warning to other women and women with children.
The Labor government expanded Australia’s humanitarian visa quota in 2023, allocating 26,500 dedicated places for Afghan nationals over a five-year period backdated to July 2021.
Header image: A photo shared by the mother of Nawabi’s alleged child victim.
