West Midlands Police in United Kingdom has arrested a man in his 30s on charges of raping and assaulting a British-born Sikh woman in her 20s which it termed “a racially motivated hate crime”.
“Officers investigating a racially-motivated rape in Oldbury have this evening (Sunday) arrested a man. The man, in his 30s, was detained as part of enquiries into the assault in the Tame Road area on Tuesday morning. He remains in custody tonight on suspicion of rape, a statement issued by the West Midlands police said.
“The woman is continuing to receive support as investigations continue,’’ the police added.
Ch Supt Kim Madill, of Sandwell Police, said, “This is a significant development in the investigation and we want to thank the community for their continuing support. The investigation remains on-going and we would urge people not to speculate as we work to identify and trace all those who may have been involved. We would remind everyone that legal proceedings are now active and we’d stress the importance of allowing the judicial process to follow its course.’’
On September 9 the attack on this British-born Sikh woman took place near Tame Road in Oldbury as per the West Midlands Police she was approached around 8.30 am by two white men while walking through a park. They said the assailants raped the woman and beat her up while hurling racist abuse, including telling her “You don’t belong in this country” and “Go back to your country.”
This incident had sent shockwaves through the Indian community and drawn condemnation from Sikh organizations, highlighting fears of rising racial tensions in the region.
Dabinderjit Singh, lead executive of the Sikh Federation UK said that xenophobia was normalized after Britain’s decision to leave the EU. “In May this year, our Prime Minister called Britain an island of foreigners, a remark he later regretted. Ironically, this rape has taken place in the constituency of a Sikh MP who had then said he was fine with that statement.”
The women shared a statement through the community group on Facebook sincerely thanking everyone for supporting her and her family during this very difficult time.
“We are going through a lot, but the strength and kindness shown by the right people in the community has been incredible, and I can’t thank them enough for being my voice. I would never wish this on anyone. All I was doing was going about my day on my way to work, and what has happened has deeply affected us. Through it all, my family has been my rock, and my community has stood strong beside me. The police are doing their best to find those responsible and I truly hope they are caught so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
