A market stallholder in Rochdale has been jailed for 35 years after grooming and raping two white schoolgirls. Mohammed Zahid, 65, who is known as Boss Man, ran a lingerie stall at Rochdale Indoor Market. He supplied underwear to the teenagers, along with money, alcohol and food, in return for regular sex with him and his friends. He was among seven Asian men found guilty in June by a jury at Manchester Minshull Street Court of various sexual offences against the girls between 2001 and 2006. Prosecutors described the victims as being treated as \”sex slaves\” from the age of 13, while they faced troubled home lives and access to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, places to stay and company.\n\nGirl A told the jury her phone number had been swapped in Rochdale for more than 200 offenders, though she said there were so many it was hard to keep track. Girl B, who was living in a local children’s home, said Zahid and fellow market traders Mushtaq Ahmed and Kasir Bashir preyed on her; she recalled social workers labeling her a \”prostitute\” from age 10. Zahid visited the care home to collect and drop off Girl B. He was convicted of raping both girls on multiple occasions, and of indecency with a child and procuring a child to have sex.\n\nOther defendants include Ahmed, 67, of Oldham; Bashir, 50, of Oldham; and taxi drivers Shahzad, 44; Naheem Akram, 49; Nisar Hussain, 41; all from Rochdale. They were jailed for 26, 29, 26, 26 and 19 years respectively for multiple counts of rape and indecency with a child relating to Girl A or B. Bashir was sentenced in his absence and is believed to be abroad. Social services and police apologised for past failings. Judge Jonathan Seely told Zahid that the victims had been vulnerable and subjected to \”a campaign of rape\”, and that Zahid had shown a \”callous disregard\” for their vulnerabilities. He described Girl B as having to relive the abuse as Zahid took her to a dark cellar for repeated assaults on a \”filthy mattress\”. The judge said: \”It must have been a truly terrible ordeal, but you simply didn’t care.\” Liz Fell, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, welcomed the sentences and thanked the victims for their strength. Detective Chief Inspector Guy Laycock said the investigation involved thousands of hours of work and praised the officers and staff involved.