A man has been arrested for the rape of an Indian-origin woman in a racist attack on her in the UK.
The 32-year-old was arrested on suspicion of rape in the Perry Barr area, West Midland Police said on Monday.
“He will now be questioned over the rape of a woman in her 20s who was attacked in the Park Hall area of Walsall on Saturday night,” read the police press release on the department website.
Detective superintendent Ronan Tyrer from the Public Protection Unit said: “This is a significant development in our investigation, and I’d like to thank everyone who has come forward with information following our appeal last night.”
“As always our priority is the woman who was the subject of this attack. She has been updated this morning and will continue to receive full support from specially trained officers,” he added.
Police continue to appeal for anyone with information to get in touch with them on emergency numbers (via 101, quoting log 4027 of 25 October). They are looking for CCTV, dashcam or mobile phone footage in particular.
Police had said, while releasing some CCTV footage, that attacker is white, in his 30s, has short or thinning hair, and was wearing dark clothing when he was captured in the CCTV footage. The footage showed him walking in an outdoor setting, most likely a park.
Local community groups said the victim is a Punjabi woman. They also expressed concerns as the attack comes just weeks after the racially aggravated rape of a British Sikh woman in the nearby Oldbury area, reported news agency PTI.
Police deployed teams to recover evidence and build a profile of the attacker.