Deliveryman arrested in Valentine's Day rape case

A deliveryman who faked the delivery of a bunch of flowers on Valentine's Day to enter a woman's home before raping her has been arrested, according to Huangpu District prosecutors.

The suspect, surnamed Zhang, 27, was a deliveryman for the online delivery platform Linqu, where clients can hire people to stand in line and delivery goods for them.

Prosecutors said he delivered a parcel to a woman who "looked pretty" and lived alone in January this year. He purposely kept her mobile phone number and address stored in his phone.

On February 14, when Valentine’s Day kicked off, he felt "lonely and frustrated" and decided to rape the woman, prosecutors alleged.

They said Zhang told the woman that someone had asked him to deliver flowers to her. The woman was convinced but she said she wouldn't be at home until 11:30pm. Undeterred, he called her again at 2am on February 15 and the woman said she was at home and could accept the delivery, prosecutors said.

As soon as the woman opened her door, Zhang is alleged to have pushed her and dragged her to the bedroom, where he beat her and raped her, prosecutors said.

Zhang remains in custody awaiting trial.