PETALING JAYA,MALAYSIA: The father of a maths prodigy Sufiah Farooq, who entered Oxford University at 13, is facing a minimum six-month jail term for sexually assaulting two underage girls.

Pakistan-born Farooq Yusof, 50, groped one of the two 15-year-olds while giving her tuition classes at her home, according to Britain's Daily Mail. He is currently behind bars awaiting sentencing.

According to the daily, Farooq was arrested after touching the girl on the chest and attempting to kiss her while her parents were watching television in a room nearby.

Sufiah, whose mother is Malaysian-born chemist Halimahton, made history by becoming the youngest student to study Mathematics in Oxford in 1997.

She ran away from the university and her family after three years of studies claiming that she could not stand the pressure from her father to succeed and that it was a "living hell".

Sufiah asked for foster care until she reached 18. She returned to Oxford in 2002 but did not complete her course.

She was married in 2004 at the age of 20 to a fellow Oxford trainee lawyer. They divorced 13 months later.

Farooq pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault at the Coventry Crown Court last week. Sexual assault carries a jail term of six months to 14 years.

The tabloid quoted the victim's father as saying that Farooq came across as "intelligent, smooth-talking and charming".

"He said my daughter was very bright and that he would be able to further develop her skills. He even told us his daughter went to Oxford but did not tell us the rest of the story.

"He took a strong interest in our daughter. Now I realise that it was for all the wrong reasons," the victimss father told the paper.