Arrest warrant issued for ex-convict after linked to rapes

Police have issued an international arrest warrant for a 41-year-old Romanian man after his genetic material matched samples collected from the victims of two rapes committed in Limassol in 2009 and 2011.

The cases involved an 18-year-old British Cypriot and a tourist from Estonia, 23.

Police collected genetic material at the time but it was not enough to extract a DNA profile with the equipment at their disposal.

The samples were eventually matched to the suspect through an Interpol database.

The 41-year-old did three months in prison in Cyprus in July 2011 for burglary and theft. He was then deported.

The first incident took place in May 19, 2009 in the centre of Limassol. According to the 18-year-old, it was just before midnight when the man attacked her and dragged her to a dark parking lot where he beat and raped her.

The second incident took place two years later, on May 22, 2011 at 1am.

The 23-year-old woman said she had been sitting on a bench in the Enaerios area when she was approached by an unknown individual who asked her for her mobile and her cash. The woman obeyed but when she tried to leave, the perpetrator dragged her to the beach where he raped her. Before leaving the scene, he also stole her phone charger and a camera.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.