BERLIN (AP) — Police in the western city of Bochum say they have arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of sexually assaulting two Chinese students.

Prosecutors said Tuesday the suspect is an Iraqi asylum-seeker who came to Germany with his wife and children a year ago.

The German news agency dpa reported that man, who wasn't named, is suspected of attacking and attempting to rape a 21-year-old Chinese woman in August, and of raping a 27-year-old Chinese woman in November.

Bochum prosecutor Andreas Bachmann said DNA evidence linked the man to both crimes. He was arrested Monday.

The case comes as a German couple in their early 20s stand trial in the eastern city of Dessau over the abduction, rape and killing of a 25-year-old Chinese student in May.