Stalker jailed after creating 200-person ‘rape list’

‘Truly frightening and vicious’ campaign of terror was waged using ancestry websites, prosecutors say

Vishaal Vijapura’s phone contained essays detailing rape fantasies he had sent to victims (Metropolitan Police)

A stalker created a “rape list” with the names of nearly 200 potential victims and posted online about “why rape is better than sex”.

Vishaal Vijapura, 28, used multiple aliases to contact victims and even paid hundreds of pounds to ancestry and address tracing websites to get information on his targets.

Police also found eight 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.

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 he could post it online.

He told another victim that his assault would render her “completely unconscious”. He sent a third victim laughing emojis after a 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.

Vijapura used multiple usernames across different social media platforms to anonymously stalk and message his victims.

When he was blocked by a victim on one account, he would start another and use the new unknown account to continue to message them.

Police discovered his email was linked to at least 28 different social media accounts between June 2020 and January 2021, when he was arrested.

This slew of information 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 r 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 Shirley in 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.

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 for life from directly or indirectly contacting any of the names on the list he created.

Helen Shaw, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said after the sentencing hearing: “Vishaal Vijapura carried out a shocking, truly frightening and vicious campaign of stalking against a number of victims.

“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.”

She added: “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.”

SWNS