Stalker, 28, who targeted 191 women on ‘rape list’ and paid ancestry websites more than £500 to get personal details of his victims is jailed for 32 months
- Vishaal Vijapura used 28 different aliases on social media to stalk his victims
- 28-year-old became obsessed with women during Covid lockdown, court heard
- He was jailed for more than two years after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing
- A sexual harm prevention order was also made as well as a restraining order
A stalker who targeted 191 women on a ‘rape list’ and paid ancestry websites more than £500 to get personal details of his victims has been jailed for 32 months.
Vishaal Vijapura used 28 different aliases on social media to anonymously stalk his victims and even paid ancestry and address tracing websites to get information about his targets.
Police also found eight excel spreadsheets with lists of 191 names, home addresses, genders, dates of births, phone numbers, names of relatives and Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram usernames among his stash of digital files.
When he was blocked by a victim on one account, he would set up another and use it to continue to message them anonymously.
Vijapura, 28, became obsessed with women during the Covid lockdowns between June 2020 and January 2021 when he was arrested.
The court heard that Vijapura, who is autistic, has obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, and ADHD, was a first-class maths university graduate but failed to get a job after leaving education.
At Croydon Crown Court on Tuesday he was jailed for two years and eight months after pleading guilty to seven counts of stalking involving fear of violence at an earlier hearing.
A sexual harm prevention order was also made as well as a restraining order banning him from directly or indirectly contacting any of the names on the list he created for life.
Vishaal Vijapura (pictured) used 28 different aliases on social media to anonymously stalk his victims and even paid ancestry and address tracing websites to get information about his targets
In his online posts, Vijapura tried to justify why he would prefer to rape someone rather than have consensual sex.
Notes on Vijapura’s phone found typed essays detailing sexual abuse and rape fantasies which he had sent out to some victims.
In one message to a victim he told her that he would rape her at her home address and film the assault so that it would go viral.
He told another victim that his assault would render her ‘completely unconscious’. He sent a third victim laughing emojis after a vile graphic message.
All of these victims were strangers, yet Vijapura paid at least £500 to use research sites such as ancestry.co.uk and 192.com to find out about their lives to strike fear into them, police said.
This slew of information that Vijapura researched was used to intimidate his victims by regurgitating details about themselves to themselves while he stalked them.
He even started an Instagram post titled ‘why rape is better than sex: a thread’, police said.
Cops were able to find that of the 191 names, 150 were traceable real people, according to police.
Vijapura, from Croydon, south London, was caught after a number of victims made complaints to the police and officers managed to track him down from the IP address he used.
Helen Shaw, district crown prosecutor at the CPS London South, said after the sentencing hearing: ‘Vishaal Vijapura carried out a shocking, truly frightening and vicious campaign of stalking against a number of victims.
At Croydon Crown Court today on Tuesday (pictured), Vijapura was jailed for two years and eight months after pleading guilty to seven counts of stalking involving fear of violence at an earlier hearing
‘His conduct involved hiding behind a screen and anonymously using social media to threaten to inflict extreme and graphic sexual violence upon his victims.
‘All of these victims were unknown to him, and yet Vijapura paid at least £500 to use research mediums such as ancestry.co.uk and 192.com to find out about their lives and instil the fear of physical violence into them.
‘The harmful impact upon his victims cannot be underestimated – many of them described feeling petrified and scared in their own homes as a result of Vijapura’s behaviour.
‘His actions have also continued to have a significant impact upon their day to day lives in the long term.
‘I would like to thank the victims for assisting with this large and complex investigation that has seen Vijapura held to account.
‘Stalking can be deeply distressing, and the CPS is committed to working with the police to root out offenders and bring them before the courts to face justice.’
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