NAPA condemns ‘racially aggravated’ rape of Sikh woman in UK’s Walsall

The North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) on Tuesday expressed its deepest condemnation and outrage over the “horrifying, racially aggravated rape” of a Sikh woman in Walsall, the United Kingdom.

This comes only weeks after a similar racially motivated assault in Oldbury, leaving the Sikh community in shock, fear and grief, the NAPA said.

According to West Midlands Police, the young woman, in her 20s, was raped and assaulted by a man she did not know in the Park Hall area of Walsall on Saturday.

The attack has been officially confirmed as racially aggravated. The suspect has been described as a white male in his 30s with short hair, wearing dark clothing at the time.

“This is an absolutely appalling and deeply distressing incident,” said Satnam Singh Chahal, executive director of NAPA.

“We stand firmly with the victim and her family and demand that the authorities take swift and decisive action to bring the perpetrator to justice. No woman should ever have to endure such horror and no community should have to live in fear because of its identity,” he said.

NAPA urged members of the Sikh and broader South Asian community in the UK to fully cooperate with law enforcement and to remain vigilant while offering emotional and moral support to the victim.

The spreading of hate and prejudice, whether online or in daily life, has real and devastating consequences that cannot be ignored, he said.

“We cannot let hate divide our society,” Chahal said. “We must respond with unity, compassion and a shared determination to ensure justice for the victims and safety for all,” he added.