Indian-origin woman raped in ‘racially aggravated’ attack in West Midlands; suspect arrested

A 20yearold woman of Indian heritage was allegedly raped in what police believe was a ldquoracially aggravatedrdquo attack in the West Midlands region of England over the weekendPolice said a 32yearold man was arrested on Monday morning after a manhunt was launched following the attack on Saturday eveningThe West Midlands Police said they were called to the Park Hall area of Walsall after receiving reports of a woman in distress on the streetDetective Superintendent DS Ronan Tyrer who is overseeing the investigation described the arrest in the Perry Barr area as a ldquosignificant developmentrdquoldquoOur investigation will progress today and as always our priority is the woman who was the subject of this attackrdquo said DS TyrerldquoShe has been updated this morning and will continue to receive full support from specially trained officersrdquo he addedOn Sunday the force released CCTV footage of the suspect mdash a white male in his 30s mdash as part of an urgent public appeal for information related to the crime which they are investigating as a ldquoracially aggravated attackrdquoldquoThis was an absolutely appalling attack on a young woman and we are doing everything we can to arrest the person responsiblerdquo DS Tyrer said at the timeldquoWe 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 itrsquos vital that we hear from anyone who saw a man acting suspiciously in the area at the time 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 we needrdquoThe attacker was described as white in his 30s with short hair and wearing dark clothing at the time of the incident While police have yet to confirm further details local community groups have claimed the victim is a Punjabi woman and have raised concerns as the attack follows the ldquoracially aggravated raperdquo of a British Sikh woman in the nearby Oldbury area just weeks earlierldquoAt this stage we are not linking this attack to any other offencesrdquo DS Tyrer saidSpecialist officers from the forcersquos Public Protection Unit local policing teams and forensic officers are working to recover CCTV footage speak to witnesses and identify the suspectChief Superintendent Phil Dolby of Walsall Police said his teamrsquos focus is on supporting investigators in identifying and arresting the attackerldquoWalsall is a diverse area and we know the fear and concern that this awful attack will cause in our communitiesrdquo said Dolby ldquoWe have been speaking to people in the community to listen to and understand their concerns and there will be an increased policing presence in the coming daysrdquoThe Sikh Federation UK quoted local sources saying that the ldquoyoung woman who was subject to a racially aggravated rape in Walsall is a Punjabi womanrdquoldquoThe 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 responsiblerdquo the organisation saidThe force has made a few arrests before releasing the suspects on bail in connection with the investigation into the racially aggravated rape of a British Sikh woman in Oldbury last monthBritish Sikh MPs Preet Kaur Gill and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi expressed their shock and condemnation on social media over what they fear is a ldquorepeated patternrdquo of violent attacks on women in the regionldquoDeeply 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 aggravatedrdquo said Gill ldquoThis 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 disturbingrdquoThe Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston said her thoughts are with the victims and their families as she appealed to the public to come forward with any information that could lead to the suspectrsquos arrestldquoAfter the shocking racially aggravated rape in Oldbury that the Sikh community is still reeling from yet another in Walsall Wersquore thinking of the victim and need to help the police at a time when more people are feeling unsafe Spreading hate has real consequencesrdquo said Dhesi Labour MP for SloughThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever