Serial rapist said he believed his victims were willing to have sex with him

A SERIAL rapist accused of spiking his victims' drinks told the High Court on Thursday he believed the women were willing to have sex with him even before they met up at nightspots.

Azuar Ahamad, 44, got to know the four women through a social networking application called Speed Date, using several personae such as "Denny" or "Shawn". He said he chatted online with them about sexual issues and was under the impression the women would have sex with him if they met up in person.

He testified that after he met them, at least two of the women behaved in such a way - kissing and hugging him - that made him believe they were willing to have sex with him.

However, Azuar admitted he had taken the opportunity to assault the women while they were unconscious.

He pleaded guilty in 2012 to raping three of the women and sexually assaulting the fourth in 2009.

Prosecutors have accused him of using the sleeping pill Dormicum to spike the victims' drinks and are seeking at least 45 years' jail on the argument that he is a danger to society.

He has maintainedt he did not slip sleeping pills into their drinks, insisting that the women had drunk themselves into a stupor.

The issue of whether he had drugged them is a key issue in the current hearing on sentencing.

On Thursday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Andrew Tan pointed out that Azuar was in the habit of lying to get what he wanted. He had lied to the victims about his educational qualifications and occupation in order to impress them and had lied to doctors about his family background and occupation in order to obtain sleeping pills.

The DPP put it to Azuar that in the same vein, he was lying about not spiking the women's drinks in order to get a lighter sentence.

Azuar admitted that he was a habitual liar but disagreed that he was lying about the sleeping pills.

The hearing has been adjourned to a later date for closing submissions.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.