Indian man extradited to UK on murder, rape charges sentenced to life

A 36yearold man who was extradited from India to the UK was sentenced to life imprisonment in London on Thursday after being found guilty of carrying out a string of rapes and a murder at a trialAman Vyas was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court with a recommended minimum term behind bars of 37 years less time already served in custody both in England and in India making his outstanding sentence to be served as 34 years 312 daysWe are pleased with todays sentence which reflects the gravity of Vyass crimes At last the victims and their families have seen the man responsible for such terrible crimes brought to justice This is a long sentence that recognises the cruelty and depravity of Vyass actions said Scotland Yard case officer Detective Sergeant Shaleena SheikhVyas carried out horrific and violent attacks on three women which tragically culminated in the murder of Michelle Samaraweera He then did all he could to evade responsibility for his crimes and fled to India He added further distress to those he hurt by subjecting them to a trial I would like to commend the dignity and bravery shown by his victims and their families throughout this process which has lasted more than 10 years said SheikhVyas was also sentenced for grievous bodily harm with intent 14 years for the rape of a woman 16 years and five months for the rape of a second woman 18andahalf years for the rape of a third woman 18andahalf years and the rape of Michelle Samaraweera the murder victim 18andahalf yearsAll sentences are to run concurrent with the sentence for murder Samaraweeras sister Ann paid tribute to her late thoughtful baby sister and called on Vyas to confess and be truly sorry for the pain he had inflicted on her and other families She said in a statement Aman Vyas has had over 11 years to come clean and admit to raping and murdering my sister and even longer to admit to all the other heinous crimes committed against all the other innocent victimsHe has also had all this time to reflect on his own life and address the issues that have turned him into the monster that he is but he didnt Instead he has lied and fabricated stories for his own benefit He will never understand what he put my mother sisters children loved ones friends and myself through Ann saidVyas potentially spending the rest of his life in prison is not a punishment but a privilege it will never be enough she said Vyas had been found guilty last month after a trial at the Old Bailey Court in London and convicted of the rape and murder of Michelle Samaraweera and the rape of three other womenThe court heard that the offences took place at locations across Walthamstow in north east London between March 2009 and May 2009 The court heard how his offending began when Vyas was 24 years old He would go out in the early hours of the morning looking for lone women to target and covered a relatively small area of Walthamstow centred around Markhouse RoadIt was established in July 2009 a month after Samaraweeras murder that Vyas purchased a oneway ticket to India leaving the same day A manhunt commenced to find Vyas and extradite him back to the UK In 2011 enquiries revealed at one stage that Vyas was in New Zealand he then made his way to Singapore and the trail went coldThe Metropolitan Police said that it was in July 2011 that they were informed by Indian authorities that they had arrested Vyas an Indian national at New Delhi Airport in India as he tried to take an outbound flightExtradition proceedings commenced at that time and in October 2019 Met officers escorted the defendant from Indira Gandhi National Airport in New Delhi to London Heathrow where he was formally arrested and charged thereafterMet Police Detective Sheikh said Despite having DNA from the scenes of the crimes Vyas was not on the database and this prompted a lengthy and complex investigation which saw more than 1100 DNA swabs taken and 1815 addresses visited We also issued more than 60500 posters displaying an image of the suspectThe scale of this investigation has been remarkable and the case has lasted a decade taking our enquiries to many different countries and resulting in a lengthy extradition process Vyas was found not guilty of only one count that of possession of a bladed weaponKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever