LONDON: A man in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of rape after a British Sikh woman was physically attacked and raped in Oldbury last week, West Midlands Police confirmed. The assault is being treated as “racially motivated.”
The victim, in her 20s, reported that she was attacked between 8:00 and 8:30 am on September 9 on Thame Road by two white men who allegedly shouted: “You don’t belong in this country, get out.” Police said the arrested man remains in custody, while efforts to trace the second suspect continue.
In a statement issued through Sikh Youth UK, the woman said: “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.”
Chief Superintendent Kim Madill of Sandwell Police called the arrest a “significant development” but stressed that the investigation is ongoing.
The attack has sparked alarm within the Sikh community, with concerns that anti-Sikh hate crimes are not being taken seriously enough by the government. The UK Gurdwara Alliance wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, condemning the “silence” from the Home Office and urging visible solidarity. Their letter warned: “Most Sikhs are visibly identifiable by our articles of faith and appearance and have been vulnerable worldwide since 9/11.”
Responding in the House of Commons on Monday, Mahmood said: “The horror of a sexual assault motivated by race or ethnicity is absolutely appalling… This government will not stand for any incitement to racial hatred or violence.”
Dabinderjit Singh of the Sikh Federation (UK) welcomed the arrest but pressed for swift action against the second suspect: “We hope the other man will also be arrested, charged and prosecutions will quickly follow for this vile crime.”
