20-Year-Old Of Indian Origin Raped In Walsall; UK Police Calls It ‘Racially Aggravated’ Assault

A 20-year-old woman, believed to be of Indian origin, was raped in Walsall, northern England, in what the West Midlands Police have termed a “racially aggravated attack.”

The force has released CCTV footage of the suspect and launched an urgent appeal for public assistance.

Police said they were called to the Park Hall area on Saturday evening after reports of a woman found distressed on the street. The suspect is described as a white male in his 30s, with short hair and wearing dark clothing at the time of the assault.

“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, “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.”

Police have urged residents with CCTV or dashcam footage to review their recordings. “Your information could be the vital breakthrough that we need,” Tyrer said.

Local groups have claimed that the victim is a Punjabi woman. The Sikh Federation UK, citing local sources, stated that “the young woman who was subject to a racially aggravated rape in Walsall is a Punjabi woman,” adding that the attacker “apparently broke down the door of the house where she was living.”

Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill said she was “deeply shocked and saddened” by another racially aggravated rape in the region, calling the repeated violence “deeply disturbing.”

In September, a similar case was reported in Oldbury, also under West Midlands Police, where a Sikh woman was raped in a racially motivated assault.

Leicester, in neighbouring East Midlands, has also seen waves of communal violence targeting Indians, Hindus, and South Asians, particularly after the August 2022 India-Pakistan cricket match. Mobs attacked Hindu neighbourhoods, homes, and temples, and the violence prompted strong condemnation and intervention calls by the Indian High Commission.

Similarly, the UK “grooming gangs” scandal, spanning over two decades, has mostly involved Pakistani-origin men and primarily targeted white British girls, but also included cases affecting South Asian victims, including Indian-origin girls.

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