10 years in jail for Abu Dhabi rapist in first of five cases

ABU DHABI // A man accused of being a serial stalker who would follow Asian women home from hotels in the capital before trying to rape them at knifepoint has been found guilty in one of the cases against him.

The Criminal Court found the Arab man guilty in the first of five cases in which he is accused of assault and rape and sentenced him to 10 years in prison, to be followed by deportation.

The man is still on trial for the four remaining cases - should he be convicted in those, any further custodial sentences would run consecutively. In each case he was accused of stalking women home from hotels in the capital before pouncing on them in elevators in their apartment buildings and trying to rape them at knifepoint. A number of his victims escaped.

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department noted the man had the right to appeal the sentence, but said it was satisfied the ruling would act as a deterrent "for such rare and reprehensible acts in the community".

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