Azeem Rafiq accused of sending vulgar messages to 17-year-old six years ago

Two days after Azeem Rafiq apologized over his decade-old antisemitic messages sent to a fellow player, he finds himself in another soup, as Gayathri Ajit, a 22-year-old, alleged him for sending inappropriate messages in 2015.

Ajith stated she had an encounter with Rafiq on a flight from Manchester to Dubai in late 2015 when she was 17 and the two mutually agreed to have a vodka coke. Rafiq, as per Ajith’s claim, asked her to have dinner with him in Dubai, which she politely refused.

A Yorkshire Post report claims that screenshots of messages from a number belonging to Rafiq, sent in December 2015, read: “u know what I wanted to do on the plane?” and “I want to grab you push u up against wall and kiss you”.

When she said “do you realise that I’m only 17?” she was asked: “Does tht mean it not allowed to want to kiss me” and “Wud u have let me kiss u?”.

Ajith, 22, living in Yorkshire, described his message as “creepy” and was so disturbed by Mr Rafiq, she asked: “How do I know that you’re no some absolute pervert”?

“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.”

On being asked to comment, Rafiq’s spokesperson said: “This was put to us late on a Friday evening. We need to look into this, so cannot comment further for now.”

The former Yorkshire player has been in the limelight ever since he opened up on the unfair and racist treatment meted out to him during both his stints at Yorkshire, leading to a severe turmoil in English cricket.