A German court has sentenced an Iraqi asylum seeker to 11 years in prison for the “brutal rape” of two Chinese students who were studying at a local university.

“Eleven years is a tough sentence. However, it is the price for what the accused did to the absolutely innocent victims for no reason,” Volker Talarowski, judge at the town court in Bochum, western Germany, said as he pronounced the sentence. The public prosecutor’s office initially requested between 12 and 14 years behind bars for the offender.

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“It is the court’s understanding that the accused had absolutely no idea about what he had done,” the judge said, as cited by the German Der Western media outlet. Nor did he understand “what unending pain he actually inflicted on the women [he raped],” Talarowski added, pointing out that the man “malignantly grinned” after one of the two victims provided testimony in court.

The offender, identified as Ziyad K., 32, sexually attacked his victims, aged 22 and 28, in August and November 2016, not far from the famous Ruhr-University Bochum, one of the largest universities in Germany.

In August, he choked his victim with a shoelace and hit her over the head with a stick, the court revealed. The victim “could have died at any moment” because of choking during the incident, the judge said, as reported by Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ).

“I thought, I would certainly die,” the victim told the court, as cited by Die Welt. The second victim was also “brutally raped,” the court said, without giving any details. Both victims survived the attacks but had to deal with long-lasting posttraumatic effects.

Police were able to collect the offender’s DNA at both crime scenes, eventually clearly linking Ziyad K to the attacks. They also produced a facial composite of the attacker on the basis of the victims’ testimonies.

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The offender was only arrested, however, after one of the victim’s fellow students took a photo of him sitting in the bushes not far from the university. The man remained silent throughout the investigation and admitted his guilt only six days ago, after the investigators had already collected extensive evidence proving it, German media report.

According to the regional chief prosecutor, Andreas Bachmann, the offender “has never demonstrated any signs of remorse” and never felt sorry for his victims, WAZ reports.

A psychology expert, Dr. Maren Losch, confirmed that the offender is “fully mentally competent” as he has a “normal psychological profile” and does not suffer from any mental disorders.

She also said that the offender was fully aware of his actions during the incidents and knew they were a crime. The offender refused to make a statement before being sent to prison.

Ziyad K. came to Germany with his wife and two children in January 2016, and has lived in a refugee center not far from the university with his family ever since. According to WAZ, he was the son of an Iraqi police officer.