Small-boat migrant who raped woman after she refused to marry him so he could stay in UK is jailed

A small-boat migrant who raped a woman after she refused to marry him so he could stay in the UK has been jailed.

Afeez Salau, 31, attacked the woman at his Lewisham flat in February 2024 after she turned down his marriage proposal over concerns he only wanted to improve his immigration status.

Despite having discussed consent together Salau raped her, only stopping when she repeatedly struck him in the chest to get him off. 

The next day the woman messaged the Nigerian – who arrived in the UK illegally on a small boat from Germany in 2018 – and told him she did not consent to his actions.

Reading her victim impact statement at Southwark Crown Court, the woman said she was left ‘feeling numb for weeks’ and that she ‘couldn’t find pleasure in the simplest things like listening to music’. 

The woman also lived with a ‘feeling of dread’ as she waited for the test results for HIV to return. Fortunately, she did not contract any diseases from Salau.

She continued: ‘This crime affected me psychologically and emotionally. What happened is always on my mind.

‘I feel trapped in a loop of blame that I did not ask for and do not deserve. I feel disgusted in men all of the time.’

Salau was sentenced to five years in prison for rape on June 12, but he will only spend half that time in custody.

He was also issued a 10 year restraining order, will remain on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life and is ‘likely to be deported’. 

Sentencing Salau, Judge Martyn Levitt said: ‘During the course of the trial I listened carefully to the complainant. I hold the view that she is a highly principled lady who entered your life with extreme caution.

‘She was uncertain of your immigration status, and was suspicious of your intention to marry her.

‘I have concluded that you are a somewhat manipulative male who does not listen to a woman when she says no.’

The judge said Salau was well aware of what consent is and ‘ignored her consistent requests’ that she did not want to have sex with him.

‘She even hit you on the chest in order to get you off her. After she continually hit you you finally got off.’

There is no evidence to prove Salau’s nationality or reason for being in the UK and he has not applied to the Home Office to remain, the judge said.

Afeez Salau was convicted by a jury of one count of rape.