Massage therapist facing jail after subjecting woman to 2hr sexual assault during treatment for sports injury

A massage therapist is facing prison for sexually assaulting a woman for two hours while she was receiving treatment for a sports injury.

Happy Suwali, 38, told the woman to undress except for a small towel before touching her breasts and private parts.

Prosecutor Simon Jessop said: ‘The massage continued for quite some time. He paid for about 45 to 60 minutes, but he says it took almost two hours.

‘He felt extremely uncomfortable because he was obviously in a confined space and felt like he couldn’t leave.’

Suwali, who held sessions at her home in Norwich and promoted her services on social media under the name ‘Happy Massage’, admitted to sexual assault three times.

Magistrates sent the case to the city’s crown court, citing insufficient powers as a starting point for a two-year prison sentence for the offences.

Suwali’s ads on social media, including Instagram, offered customers ‘ultimate relaxation and wellness’ Swedish and deep tissue massages, saying they would ‘lift your spirit, nourish your body’.

It also provided free massage services to volunteers as part of special promotions.

Mr Jessop told yesterday’s hearing that the victim went to freelancer Suwali’s home on April 30 last year after seeing one of her adverts.

He was taken into custody after the woman reported the situation to the police.

The prosecutor said the sexual assault was a ‘serious breach of trust’ as he identified himself as a qualified masseur.

“If you are setting yourself up online as a business that invites people into your home in the vicinity where the sexual assault has occurred, that crosses the line into the more serious category in terms of planning,” Mr Jessop added.

Bethanie Mantin, defending, told the Bench her client was an ‘extremely vulnerable individual’ with autism and learning disabilities.

He said: ‘Although he pleaded guilty, he stated that he did not intend to cause any harm.

Suwali, who organized sessions at her home in Norwich and announced her services on social media under the name ‘Happy Massage’, admitted to sexual assault 3 times.

The defendant will be sentenced at Norwich Crown Court next month

‘He says it’s not for sexual gratification. It was something he thought he had to do [do].

‘I appreciate this seems like a strange statement, but it must be seen in the context of his mental disorders.

‘He now accepts that this was wrong and is very remorseful and sorry for what he did.’

In 2022, women who were sexually assaulted by massage therapists opened up about their harrowing experiences and called for more regulation in the industry.

Victims told BBC radio’s File On 4 how they were abused in the vulnerable position of being naked and alone in a room with men they thought were trusted massage therapists.

Many of the attacks took place in the client’s own home after the practitioner made a booking through one of a growing number of apps and websites offering mobile beauty and wellness services with a single click.

The program also found that the industry was largely unregulated and practitioners were not licensed.

This means anyone can work as a massage therapist, even people who are unqualified or have a criminal record.

Suwali will be sentenced on June 22.