London, Oct 27: A 20-year-old woman, locally identified as being of Indian heritage, was attacked in a “racially aggravated” rape in the West Midlands region of England over the weekend.
The police said a 32-year-old man was arrested on Monday morning on suspicion of rape after a manhunt was launched in the wake of the attack on Saturday evening. The West Midlands Police said they were called to the Park Hall area of Walsall following concerns for the welfare of a woman in distress in the street.
Detective Superintendent (DS) Ronan Tyrer, who is overseeing the investigation for the force, described the arrest in the Perry Barr area of the region as a “significant development”.
“Our investigation will progress today, and, as always, our priority is the woman who was the subject of this attack,” said DS Tryer.
“She has been updated this morning and will continue to receive full support from specially trained officers,” he said.
On Sunday, the force released CCTV footage of the suspect, a white male in his 30s, as part of an urgent public appeal for information related to the crime they are investigating “as a racially aggravated attack”.
“This was an absolutely appalling attack on a young woman, and we are doing absolutely everything we can to arrest the person responsible,” DS Tyrer said at the time.
“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.
“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 said.
The attacker is described as white, in his 30s, with short hair and wearing dark clothing at the time of the attack. While the police are yet to confirm further details, local community groups have claimed that the victim is a Punjabi woman and expressed concerns as the latest attack comes weeks after the racially aggravated rape of a British Sikh woman in the nearby Oldbury area.
“At this stage, we are not linking this attack to any other offences,” DS Tyrer said in his statement.
Specialist officers from the force’s Public Protection Unit, local policing officers, and forensic officers are said to be working to recover CCTV, speaking to witnesses, and identifying the suspect. Chief Superintendent Phil Dolby of Walsall Police said his team’s focus is on supporting the investigators in identifying and arresting the attacker.
“Walsall is a diverse area, and we know the fear and concern that this awful attack will cause in our communities,” said Dolby.
“We have been speaking to people in the community today to listen to and understand their concerns, and there will be an increased policing presence in the coming days,” he said.
Sikh Federation UK quoted local sources to say 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 said.
The force has made a few arrests before releasing the suspects on bail in their investigation into the racially aggravated rape of a British Sikh woman in Oldbury last month.
British Sikh MPs, Preet Kaur Gill and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, took to social media to express their shock and condemnation at a feared “repeated pattern” of violent attacks on women in the region.
“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 Gill.
“This follows the horrifying reports of a racially aggravated rape of a Sikh girl in Oldbury, and a rape of a woman in Halesowen. The repeated pattern of violence against women in our region, compounded by hate and racial overtones, is deeply disturbing,” she said.
The Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston in the West Midlands said her thoughts are with the victims and their families as she appealed for the public to come forward with any information that could lead to the arrest of the suspect.
“After the shocking racially aggravated rape in Oldbury that the Sikh community is still reeling from, yet another in Walsall. We’re thinking of the victim and need to help the police at a time when more people are feeling unsafe. Spreading of hate has real consequences,” said Dhesi, Labour MP for Slough. (PTI)
