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A young man will spend the next 16 years in prison after a criminal court found him guilty of raping three women in Ayia Napa just before summer 2022.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, a 22-year-old male from Syria, who was detained in May in connection with a rape complaint in Ayia Napa, has admitted a total of three such incidents and was sentenced on Tuesday to 16 years in prison by a Famagusta criminal court.
Police did not provide the exact dates or content of each of the rape allegations, citing privacy concerns for the accusers, but CNA had reported that the case involved a total of three women in Ayia Napa who filed rape complaints separately between April 18 and mid-May.
Local media suggested the encounters took place in dark side alleys adjacent to a crowded venue on a main avenue, where the female victims were raped while being intoxicated in the early morning hours.
The Syrian man was reportedly detained after an individual who was shown security camera footage identified him as the perpetrator
Charges included abduction with intent to sexually abuse, kidnapping, rape, indecent assault, and penetrative sexual assault.
The Syrian man was reportedly detained after an individual who was shown security camera footage identified him as the perpetrator. It was not clear whether the individual was one of the female victims or another person.
Previous media reports speculated the suspect had admitted the offenses during interrogation shortly after his arrest in late May.
But in late June his arraignment was pushed back after the defendant refused to enter a plea, asking instead for a defense attorney with the court scheduling his new arraignment for mid July.
After a public defender was assigned to the case, the defendant was convicted and sentenced on Tuesday to 16 years in prison.
