Father of runaway Oxford genius is accused of sexual assault

Sufiah Yusof went to Oxford aged 13 but ran away claiming that her parents had put too much pressure on her, provoking a national debate on the treatment of prodigies.

Now the Daily Mail can exclusively reveal that her father Farooq Yusof, 50, has been charged with sexually assaulting a girl, who is not a relative.

He is alleged to have touched the girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, on the chest outside her clothes.

Under his real surname of Khan, he appeared before magistrates and was remanded in custody last month, where he currently remains awaiting his next court appearance.

Khan, who describes himself as a 'maths researcher', has not entered a plea. The case will go to Coventry Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing on January 18.

The alleged assault happened on May 21 this year. The maximum sentence for sexual assault is 14 years in jail, and the minimum six months.

Sufiah's father and mother Halimahton, a scientist, gave up their jobs to educate their five children at home.

It was in 1997 that his daughter Sufiah went to St Hilda's College, Oxford, at the age of 13. In 2000, Sufiah, then aged 15, fled the university the day after her third year exams.

She went to Bournemouth, where she worked as a waitress. After 12 days she was found by police in an internet cafe but she refused to return to her parents. She was taken into care by a foster family and revealed she had run away to escape the 'living hell' she said her father had created.

In a searing email sent to her parents' home opposite Warwick University in Coventry, she made clear how deep her estrangement was. She wrote: 'I've finally had enough of 15 years of physical and emotional abuse.'

She claimed her father, from Pakistan, became enraged if she failed to understand her lessons, and made her work in the cold to aid concentration.

Sufiah had thought Oxford would be her escape, but her father joined her there. She added that she never wanted to see her 'controlling and bullying' father again.

Sufiah returned to Oxford in October 2002 to take the final year of her maths course. Although she failed to complete the course, she found love with Jonathan Marshall, a trainee lawyer from Keble College.

Both strict Muslims, they married three years ago. The couple said at the time that they planned to move to London and have 'many children'.

Sufiah's parents moved from their rented home opposite Warwick University four months ago. At her new home, also in Coventry, Sufiah's mother would not comment.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman confirmed that Farooq Bashir Khan, 50, has been charged sexual assault on a female aged 13 or over by touching her without consent.