17-year-old girl accuses Azeem Rafiq of sending inappropriate messages

Azeem Rafiq has been in the news ever since he accused Michael Vaughan and a few Yorkshire players of racism. While the matter is still hot, Rafiq himself has got embroiled in a controversy. A few days after apologising for sending antisemitic messages, Rafiq has found himself in deep trouble as a 22-year-old young girl, Gayathri Ajit, has accused him of sending vulgar messages.

Ajit revealed that she met Rafiq on a flight to Dubai and the duo mutually decided to have a vodka coke. Ajit claims that Rafiq later asked her for dinner which she refused. A report in Yorkshire Post released screenshots of messages, allegedly sent by Rafiq’s number.

“U know what I wanted to do on the plane?” and “I want to grab you push u up against wall and kiss you, ” read a message.

Ajith, who was just 17 at the time when this incident happened, said that she found Rafiq’s messages creepy.

“I was just kind of shocked by the crudity of those messages. They were just so vulgar” Ajith told Yorkshire post. “I’m not disputing any of his racism claims, because I’m sure they’re very true experiences. But certain aspects of what he said just don’t really sit right with me.

“If he was being forced to drink by his teammates, then surely that wouldn’t then mean he would be drinking alone on a flight and encouraging a 17-year-old girl to be drinking with him.”

“His behaviour towards me was a direct contradiction really of what he said in his testimony,” she added. “He’s calling for equality and respect, but why is he not embodying that in all aspects? Especially in his tone towards women. It’s hypocrisy. He is being put on this pedestal for inciting systemic change, but he’s really contributing to the problem of the vulgar attitudes towards women. The whole nature of that doesn’t sit right with me.”

Responding to the claims, Rafiq’s spokesperson declined to comment saying they need to look into the matter before speaking on the issue. “This was put to us late on a Friday evening. We need to look into this, so cannot comment further for now,” he said.