British serial rape suspect charged with killing one of victims

A British serial rape suspect, who has evaded justice for more than a decade, is charged with murdering one of his victims in 2009, local media reported Tuesday.

Aman Vyas, 35, is accused of rape and murder of Michelle Samaraweera in Walthamstow, east London, in May 2009, and raping three other women aged 35-59.

Vyas turned a small area near his home in Walthamstow into his "hunting ground" for a "series of violent rapes" between March and May 2009, the Daily Mail reported, citing prosecutor Tom Little.

"The prosecution say the defendant would go out prowling in the early hours of the morning, looking for lone women on whom he could prey," the barrister told Croydon Crown Court in south London.

The defendant has been fugitive from justice for over a decade as he fled Britain just weeks after his last attack. He was extradited from India in October 2019.

He is charged with murder, and six counts of rape, of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and of having an article with a blade or point in a public place.

Vyas has admitted one of the rapes but denies the other attacks, even "in the teeth of compelling evidence of his guilt," according to the court.