Serial rape suspect remanded in custody

[Weltschmerz]

Serial rape suspect remanded in custody

Published: 15 Feb 08 12:01 CET
Online: The Local - Serial rape suspect remanded in custody

A 24-year-old man has been remanded in custody in Stockholm on suspicion of raping three women and attempting to rape two others.

* Prosecutor wants to see Beltran behind bars (21 Jan 08)
* Man jailed for making 12-year-old pregnant (16 Jan 08)
* Opera star Beltran denies rape charges (5 Jan 08)

The man denies committing the offences, which are alleged to have taken place in various suburbs in the greater Stockholm region late last year.

All five of the attacks took place outdoors in the middle of the night. The perpetrator pushed his victims to the ground and held a knife over their mouths.

Police have no previous record of the suspect, who arrived in Sweden for the first time one year ago. Neither the public prosecutor not the suspect's lawyer wished to comment on the suspect's background.

The evidence against the man is considered strong, as it includes traces of DNA.

Police are now investigating whether the suspect can be tied to any other unsolved rapes in the Stockholm region over the last year.

"We are looking at these attacks but cannot currently connect the man to these incidents. There are after all also other people who perpetrate rapes," public prosecutor Nils Lundberg told TT.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)