London: A Sikh woman, in her twenties, was gangraped by two white men in UK’s Oldbury town and told to ‘go back to her own country’. The incident has sparked outrage among the expatriate Sikh community in the UK.
Less than a month ago, two elderly Sikhs were assaulted by three teenagers outside a railway station in Wolverhampton. Footage showed the two on the ground, being repeatedly kicked by a youngster, till he is pulled away by another. The turbans of the two Sikhs came undone during the assault.
The Oldbury incident happened around 8.30 pm on Tuesday near Tame Road. The police have called it a ‘racially aggravated’ attack and launched an effort to track down the accused.
The woman has informed them that the attackers made racist comments, the police said, adding that CCTV and forensic inquiries are underway.
According to Birminghamlive, the suspects as “white men”. One had a shaven head and wore a dark sweatshirt, while the other hand a grey top on.
The local Sikh community is seeing this as a targeted assault. The police have said that the anger is “fully understandable” and assured they would increase patrols in the area.
British MP Preet Kaur Gill condemned the incident and said the rise in “overt racism” in recent times is deeply concerning.
“This was an act of extreme violence but is also being treated as racially aggravated, with the perpetrators reportedly telling her that she “does not belong here.” She does belong here. Our Sikh community and every community has the right to feel safe, respected, and valued. Racism and misogyny have no place in Oldbury, or anywhere in Britain,” the lawmaker from Birmingham Edgbaston said.
Jas Athwal, another MP from Ilford South, called it a “vile, racist, misogynist attack” that should be treated with the utmost seriousness. “Let’s be clear, this attack is a result of the rising racial tensions in our country, and now, a young woman has been left traumatised for life,” he said.
