An imam raped and sexually assaulted a young girl in a mosque, a court has heard.

Khandaker Mohammed Rahman is alleged to have raped the child in a women's washroom in a south Wales mosque in 2005, and to have groped her on a number of subsequent occasions.

The 65-year-old cleric denies the allegations, and is on trial at Swansea Crown Court.

Opening the case for the prosecution, John Hipkin QC said it was Crown's position that Rahman raped the girl - who was under 13 at the time - after asking her to accompany him to the library room in the mosque.

He said once alone the defendant pushed the girl into a small washing room, causing her to fall to the floor and hit her head before attacking her.

Mr Hipkin said when the youngster visited the mosque on subsequent occasions Rahman touched the schoolgirl's breasts and bum.

The barrister said it was the prosecution's case that the incident was "to say the least traumatic" for the alleged victim, and it wasn't until 2018 that she told her husband about what had happened and the matter was reported to the police.

He said the victim subsequently identified Rahman as the man who had attacked her after searching for pictures online. When the imam was interviewed by police he denied all the allegations.