Different descriptions make identifying culprit difficult
POLICE yesterday said DNA samples taken from two of the attacks on women by a masked man in Nicosia matched the sample taken from the latest victim in Larnaca on Saturday morning.
Spokesman Demetris Demetriou yesterday confirmed that three of the attacks had been exacted by the same man but the other seven could not be linked because of a lack of DNA evidence.
Police also said that one of the recent victims of an early morning assault claims the hooded attacker limped as he ran off, adding to speculation that the attacker believed to be behind the spate of early morning assaults has a bad leg.
The hooded attacker – who may actually be two or more people involved in copycat crimes – has assaulted at least eight women over the past few weeks, two of whom were raped.
Irresponsibly and absurdly labelled ‘the monster’ (‘Drakos’) by the Greek media, the man has attempted to sexually assault more than just two women, but has repeatedly fled the scene after his victims have either shouted in distress or, in a recent case, fought back.
On Saturday a woman wrestled the knife out of her attacker’s hands and managed to pull his hood off before he ran away.
Demetriou earlier told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that one of the women recently told police that her attacker was limping as he ran off.
Demetriou could not confirm which woman it was or where the crime took place, adding that it was too early to conclude that the man who has been terrorising the island’s female population – and not without the help of the media – has a limp.
“It’s possible that he was limping in that single case because he was injured in the process of attacking her”, Demetriou said.
Even if there is evidence that the attacker indeed has a limp, there is a danger that any such official description will lead to a backlash of discrimination against certain disabled people.
Previous descriptions have said described the culprit as both foreign and local, as having blue eyes, brown eyes and as speaking broken English, fluent English and/or broken Greek.
Justice Minister Doros Theodorou said yesterday that there has been “too much noise” surrounding the attacker and the issue needs to be discussed more sensibly.
In the most recent assault, a stranger with a knife attacked a woman at 10 am Sunday morning in the basement of her Acropolis building while she was taking out her garbage.
The woman was treated for neck injuries at the Nicosia General Hospital. According to police, the woman said her attacker had stabbed her in the neck, but the doctor on duty said it was doubtful that a knife caused the neck injuries.
State pathologist Sophocles Sophocleous then examined the woman and concluded that a knife did not cause the wound. Police are investigating the verity of her claims.
The police spokesman said her attacker is not the same man believed to be behind the spate of sexual assaults due to the fact that he was “not wearing a hood”.
The police plan to shortly release to the public a sketch of the man.
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