Rape of Sikh Woman in UK Sparks Outrage; Police Call It a ‘Racially Aggravated Attack’

In England, later this week, a British born Sikh woman who was in her 20s was raped and assaulted in Oldbury and the West Midlands Police is investigating the case as a hate crime with racial overtones.

Happening close to Tame Road in the morning of September 9, the attack has produced shockwaves throughout the local community, and attracted a general outcry across Sikh organisations, which reflects a continuing concern over the increasing tension between races in the area.

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The victim had claimed that she had been approached by two white men around 830 am and was attacked somewhere in a park area. Police reports reveal that not only did the assailants rape her and physically beat her, but also subjected her to racist insults such as: You do not belong in this country, go back to your country and statements such as: You do not belong in this country, get out. Such statements have made governments categorize the offense as a racially aggravated offense, which focuses on the combination of sexual violence and prejudice based on hate.

The woman who was referred to as a British Person of Indian origin (PIO) was able to report the ordeal shortly after attracting the attention of the law enforcement.

The police of the West Midlands have also issued descriptions of the suspects in an attempt to find them. One man is thought to be in his 30s, has a shaved head, wears a grey zip-up hoodie, black tracksuit bottoms, black trainers and what is the most striking; black gloves. The description of the second suspect has not been so detailed in the public appeals, but the police is encouraging anyone having information to forward it.

Officers are looking into CCTV footage of the area and have asked residents to provide dashcam and doorbell camera footage. To alleviate the fear that this community has, additional patrols have been dispatched in Oldbury in order to prevent further occurrences.

There have been no arrests made and the man hunt is still going on.

West Midlands police have noted, in a statement on their site, the gravity of the case: “We’re investigating after a woman reported to us that she had been raped in Oldbury in what we are treating as a racially aggravated attack.” They have urged witnesses to get in touch with them either through Live Chat or calling 101 referring to log number 988 of September 9.

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Community members and other advocacy organizations have helped to distribute the call to information with some posting on social media in an effort to broaden the scope. The Sikh Federation (UK) shared information about the event on social media where it was reported that the victim was approached in a park where she was repeatedly beaten and told that she was not part of the UK. The absence of immediate high-level political response has been condemned by Sikh Youth UK and other groups who want the government to take more action to fight racism and serve the minority communities better.

Anti-racism organisations such as Stand up to Racism have also come in with their own statement of the incident, saying that this was an intersection of racism, misogyny, and violence and denouncing the far-right narratives which claim to protect women, (and which fail to stop crimes against women).

It follows news of growing hate crimes against South Asian populations in the UK, such as recent attacks on Sikh taxi drivers. Social media users and locals have expressed their frustrations that the media seems to have gone silent regarding this case in comparison with other high-profile cases, with some wondering why the story has not been the headline or politicians have not made their vocal opinions on the matter.

For instance, broadcaster Narinder Kaur posted on X: “Politicians + media who platform this poison are complicit. You cannot feed the beast of racism daily and then feign shock when something happens on your side and SILENCE when a brown person is attacked.”

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