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'Indian-origin' woman raped in UK's Walsall, police say ‘racially aggravated attack’ | What we know
After identifying the crime as a “racially aggravated attack”, the West Midlands police have released CCTV camera footage of the suspect as an urgent appeal.
A month after the rape of a British Sikh woman, the UK police have identified another ‘racially aggravated attack’ in northern England, this time of a 20-year-old, who is believed to be of Indian origin.
The West Midlands Police has issued an urgent appeal to trace a white male, who is suspected of carrying out the "racially aggravated" rape of the 20-year-old woman in Walsall.
The police added that it was called to the Park Hall area of Walsall on Saturday evening following concerns for the welfare of a woman in distress in the street.
After identifying the crime as a “racially aggravated attack”, the West Midlands police have released CCTV camera footage of the suspect as part of a public appeal for information.
The attacker has been described as white, in his 30s, with short hair and wearing dark clothing at the time of the incident.
“This was an absolutely appalling attack on a young woman, and we are doing absolutely everything we can to arrest the person responsible,” Detective Superintendent (DS) Ronan Tyrer, who is overseeing the investigation, said on Sunday.
“We have teams of officers recovering evidence and building a profile of the attacker so that he can be brought into custody as soon as possible. While we are following multiple lines of enquiry right now, it’s vital that we get to hear from anyone who saw a man acting suspiciously in the area at the time,” he said.
DS Tyrer further called on citizens with dashcam cameras and CCTV cameras in the neighbouring areas to check their footage and share the information.
“It may be that you were driving through the area and have dashcam footage, or you have CCTV that we have not yet recovered. Your information could be the vital breakthrough that we need,” he added.
Victim likely a Punjabi woman, says local organisation
While details of the victim have not been released in order to protect the identity of the woman, news agency PTI reported that local community groups have claimed that the victim is a Punjabi woman.
Sikh Federation UK quoted local sources and said that the “young woman who was subject to a racially aggravated rape in Walsall is a Punjabi woman”.
“The attacker apparently broke down the door of the house where she was living… West Midlands Police have now had two racially aggravated rapes of young women in their 20s in the last two months and urgently need to find those responsible,” the organisation added in a statement shared on social media.
While the attack brings back the incident of September, the police is currently not linking this rape to any other offences, said DS Tyrer.
“Deeply shocked and saddened that we are hearing of yet another racially aggravated rape this time in Walsall. West Midlands police have reported a rape and assault of a young woman in her 20s in the Park Hall area, described as racially aggravated," said Preet Kaur Gill, the Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston.
"The repeated pattern of violence against women in our region, compounded by hate and racial overtones, is deeply disturbing," she added further.
Sikh woman raped in UK's Oldbury
In September, a Sikh woman was raped in Oldbury, which is also under the jurisdiction of the West Midlands police.
The incident took place just before 8:30 AM on September 9, around Tame Road in Oldbury, which is close to Birmingham.
The police investigated the crime as a racially aggravated attack. The police detailed a man, in his 30s, allegedly linked to the rape.
Initial statements from the police stated that the hunt for two white male suspects was on, who were believed to have abused and assaulted the woman in broad daylight.
The police made a few arrests in the Oldbury case, before releasing the suspects on bail in their investigation into the racially aggravated rape.
