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An Afghan man accused of raping two 14 year-old girls was remanded in custody after appearing before a court for the first time on Tuesday. Sultani Bakatash, 28, is alleged to have sexually assaulted the girls inside a flat in Bolton last Saturday.

Bakatash appeared at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, following the brief hearing via an interpreter of the Dari language, which is spoken in Afghanistan.

The court heard Bakatash has been in the UK for two years and has been granted indefinite leave to remain, together with his mother, two brothers and two sisters, who are also living in the UK.

Gabrielle Bann-Khellaf, prosecuting, opposed an application for bail made on behalf of the defendant by his solicitor, who refused to give her name to a reporter

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