The UK police have launched an urgent manhunt for a white male suspect after the ‘racially aggravated’ rape of a woman of Indian origin in northern England’s Walsall area.
According to West Midlands Police, officers were called to the Park Hall area on Saturday evening after receiving reports of a young woman, in her 20s, in distress on the street.
Authorities have released CCTV footage of the suspect and confirmed that the incident is being treated 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,” said Detective Superintendent Ronan Tyrer, who is leading the investigation.
He added that multiple lines of inquiry are being pursued, with forensic teams and local officers working to collect evidence and build the attacker’s profile.
“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 urged.
Police described the suspect as a white man in his 30s, with short hair, and wearing dark clothing at the time of the assault.
Though the police have not officially released the victim’s identity, local community groups claim she is a Punjabi woman. The attack comes just weeks after another racially motivated assault on a British Sikh woman in nearby Oldbury, sparking concern among the South Asian community.
“At this stage, we are not linking this attack to any other offences,” Tyrer clarified.
Sikh Federation UK quoted local sources to say that the victim was 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 stated.
