Call to prayer leads police to child rapist

Saudi police captured a local school teacher who had raped 13 little girls over a period of four years after one victim told them she had heard Azan (prayers call) from a nearby mosque while he was raping her at his apartment.

When police told the nine-year-old girl that there are too many apartments located near mosques in the western Red Sea port of Jeddah, she simply replied that she knows the voice of the Muazzin (prayers caller) very well.

“With her help, they finally found the mosque…she immediately recognised the building and the rapist’s apartment,” 'Alhayat' newspaper said on Saturday.

Police said this week they had seized the 42-year-old teacher after a manhunt of nearly four years, during which he raped 13 girls aged below 10 years. One of them was ill and was dragged off the bed from a local hospital.

Newspapers on Saturday quoted the fathers of some victims as saying the unnamed rapist had beaten up their daughters and forced them to drink liquor. One victim was tied to bed for 16 hours.

“The rapist belongs to a well-known family in Jeddah and is normal in his behaviour at home and school…he practices teaching normally and is liked by his colleagues,” 'Alhayat' said, quoting a police source.

“There could be a loophole in his personality. He will be examined by experts to pinpoint his problem and the reasons that led him to commit such crimes.”

Newspapers said DNA tests confirmed the man is the rapist while some of the victims brought to the police centre immediately recognised him although he had shaven off his head in an apparent camouflage bid.

He snatched his latest victim, Maha, two weeks ago, raped her and dumped her in a park on the next day.

“Kill him…kill him when you catch him,” Maha had told the police before the rapist was captured.