National

DNA match leads to conviction 22 years after B.C. sexual assault

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 29 May, 2024 11:12 AM

Police in Metro Vancouver say a DNA match led to a man's arrest and conviction more than 22 years after he broke into a woman's home and sexually assaulted her.

Richmond RCMP say Christopher Sharafi, also known as Mohammed Mendi Sharafi, was found guilty last October, and in April he was sentenced to five years in prison for the two offences dating back to December 2001.

The Mounties say the victim reported waking up to find a man standing in her room, and he then climbed into her bed and assaulted her as she tried to fight back.

They say in a statement that police collected and submitted DNA evidence for analysis, but the suspect remained unidentified until 2015, when the sample matched a known offender in the national DNA databank.

RCMP say Sharafi had been ordered to provide a DNA sample as part of a previous unrelated conviction and the Mounties' forensic laboratory confirmed the match.

They say Sharafi has now been found guilty of break and enter and sexual assault and sentenced to five years in prison for each offence, to be served concurrently.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. woman found dead after alleged abduction, man arrested: RCMP

An RCMP investigation into the alleged abduction of a woman from Lumby, B.C., has turned into a probe of a suspicious death. Mounties say in a statement that officers with the North Okanagan detachment found the woman's body in a rural area on Sunday, and a man believed to have been involved was arrested in the vicinity.

B.C. woman found dead after alleged abduction, man arrested: RCMP

B.C. celebrates 10 billion seedlings planted since 1930

British Columbia officials are celebrating the planting of 10 billion seedlings since reforestation efforts began nearly a century ago. A statement from the Forests Ministry says two billion of those seedlings have been planted in the last seven years.

B.C. celebrates 10 billion seedlings planted since 1930

B.C. home sales slide almost 10 per cent in March despite mortgage rate drop

Home sales in British Columbia fell by almost 10 per cent in March compared with the same period last year, in a slowdown an analyst says could be buyers waiting for lower interest rates. The B.C. Real Estate Association says the province saw 6,460 residential unit sales in the Multiple Listing Service systems last month, a 9.5-per-cent decline from March 2023.

B.C. home sales slide almost 10 per cent in March despite mortgage rate drop

Decades in the making, B.C. signs agreement handing over title to Haida Gwaii

The B.C. government and the Council of Haida Nation have signed an agreement officially recognizing Haida Gwaii's Aboriginal title, more than two decades after the nation launched a legal action seeking formal recognition.

Decades in the making, B.C. signs agreement handing over title to Haida Gwaii

VPD investigate homicide of Chirag Antil

Vancouver police say they're investigating a suspected overnight homicide in the city's south end. Police say they were called to a report of gun shots around 11 p.m. Friday at the intersection of East 55th Avenue and Main Street. They say officers found the body of 24-year-old Chirag Antil in a vehicle.

VPD investigate homicide of Chirag Antil

DNA tests shows B.C. woman was killed by dogs, not bear: coroner's report

A woman killed while picking blueberries on a farm east of Vancouver was initially thought to have died in a bear attack in August 2021, but a newly released coroner's report says she was mauled by dogs from another property. The report says the dogs responsible for the death of 54-year-old Ping (Amy) Guo at a Pitt Meadows farm were only identified after their DNA was tested when another person died 17 months later at the neighbouring home.