The move follows the arrest of a man who was suspected of involvement in at least half a dozen similar cases, Al-Madinah newspaper reported Tuesday.
The 36-year-old Saudi was arrested two months ago after he was accused of kidnapping and raping of a nine-year-old boy from Al-Harazat district in east Jeddah. The DNA tests proved that the accused was involved in seven rape cases. A number of victims have already identified him. He was identified with the help of pictures from surveillance cameras installed at a commercial center.
Jeddah police were successful in capturing the man after continuous search operations following a kidnap and rape incident in Al-Salama district one and a half years ago. A similar incident was reported in Aziziyah district a few months later.
There were also similar cases registered at police stations in Al-Safa, Al-Rehab and Al-Shamaliya districts. The man, who was married and has children, was arrested after assaulting a boy in Al-Harazat district.
The man committed the crime while he was on his way to pick up his wife and children from the house of a relative. The man stopped his car when he saw two boys going to a store in the district. He tried to lure the boys and subsequently kidnapped one of them, while his brother ran away. Immediately after receiving a tip-off, a patrol team rushed to the scene and arrested the man. He was taken to Al-Muntazehat police station, where he was detained.
It was evident from preliminary investigations that the man had raped the boy just before his arrest. However, he denied the charges outright. This forced the police to conduct DNA tests. The DNA samples of the accused man were identical to the samples obtained from the clothes of the victim.
Police managed to collect evidence from the pictures taken by cameras installed at the commercial center. There were pictures of the entire scene starting with the man’s attempts to lure the boys and ending with the kidnapping.
It was revealed in further investigations that the DNA samples of the accused man and six other rape victims were also identical. The victims were allegedly lured by the accused to the roofs of buildings in his neighborhood, where he raped them. The man used to take out his knife and threaten to kill the victim in case he revealed the assault to anyone. His physical strength was another factor that enabled him to kidnap his victims and take them to rooftops to commit the crime. The accused also tried to destroy evidence by changing his physical appearances. Sometimes, he appeared clean-shaven, while other times he sported a long beard. On some other occasions, he covered his head purportedly to mislead the victims from identifying him.