Out-of-towner jailed for attempted rape and robbery

A man who robbed a woman after a failed rape attempt has been sentenced to 13 years behind bars by Jing’an District People’s Court.

The man, surnamed Tang, a jobless out-of-towner, often sleeps at a local bath center in the Pengpu Xincun residential community, the court said.

In the wee hours of February 19, Tang saw the center’s cleaner taking a rest in the hall.

Tang used the opportunity to approach his victim, who was resting in the center. He added crushed sleeping pills to a bottle of drink stolen from a supermarket and enticed her to drink it, claiming it was good for a woman’s health.

Tang intended to rape her, but for some reason he failed to go ahead with his plan, the court said, adding that instead, he took Su’s mobile phone and ran off.

Su woke up later that afternoon and found that her pants had been taken off and her phone was missing. Police checked monitoring videos and tracked down Tang.

He was caught three days later in an Internet cafe in the Pudong New Area. Police said they found Su’s phone in his pocket.