A Chinese student raped a fellow undergraduate in Edinburgh and forced her to complete his university coursework during a prolonged campaign of abuse.
Ziyi Shi, 21, subjected the woman to repeated sexual assaults and violent attacks while the pair were living in student accommodation in the Scottish capital.
The University of Edinburgh electronics and electrical engineering student denied charges of rape, abusive behaviour and breaching an undertaking not to contact the woman during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. However, a jury found him guilty, and he was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing next month.
Abuse from September 2022 to January 2024
The court heard Shi's abuse began in September 2022 and continued until January 2024. During that time, he repeatedly insulted the victim, made derogatory comments about her appearance and controlled her behaviour.
According to the BBC, he also forced the woman, who was studying a different university course, to complete assignments he had been set as part of his degree.
On one occasion, Shi bit the woman after she refused to have sex with him or allow him to examine her mobile phone.
During another attack, he repeatedly kicked her, slapped her in the face, gripped her by the neck and poured water over her clothes and camera.
Rape and sexual assault while victim asleep or intoxicated
The court heard he raped and sexually assaulted the woman on multiple occasions between October 2022 and November 2023 while she was asleep or so intoxicated that she was incapable of consenting.
In one attack in March 2023, Shi removed the woman's underwear before grabbing and raping her at student halls.
During another assault on November 30 or December 1, 2023, he seized her by the neck, choked her, repeatedly slapped her, threatened her and raped her.
The woman later told a student adviser she was frightened of Shi following the attacks, although she said they had also had consensual sex at other times.
Judge describes offences as 'very serious and grave'
Judge Thomas Welsh KC described the offences as "very serious and grave" and ordered the preparation of a background report and risk assessment before sentencing.
Shi, a first offender, will be sentenced next month.
The BBC reported that the university suspended Shi after he was charged. He had previously been granted bail after surrendering his passport and has also been placed on the sex offenders' register.
