Two rapes targeting PIO women leave Indian diaspora in West Midlands fearful
LONDON: Two rapes in the West Midlands targeting two young Sikh women have triggered fear and concern among the British Sikh community which has lived in the region for decades.A white British man, John Ashby (32) from Birmingham, has been charged with the rape of a Punjab-born woman aged in her 20s on the evening of October 25 in Walsall. She was found in distress in the street and said she had been raped and assaulted at a nearby property. Ashby appeared at Birmingham magistrates’ court on Thursday. Less than two months earlier, on September 9, a British-born PIO woman in her 20s was attacked and raped on her way to work in Oldbury. A 49-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman were arrested on October 18 on suspicion of the Oldbury rape and another rape in Halesowen which took place on October 16. They have now been given conditional bail pending further enquiries. In court Ashby, of no fixed abode, was charged with rape, attempted strangulation and religiously or racially aggravated assault, as well as the robbery of jewellery and a mobile phone. He did not enter a plea. Ashby was remanded in custody and will appear at Birmingham crown court on November 26. Around 50 members of Walsall’s Sikh community attended the hearing and sat in the public gallery. One of them shouted offensive words at Ashby as he returned to the cells and he shouted back and banged on the glass. The individual in the public gallery was ordered to apologise to the court for contempt of court. Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill, who represents Birmingham Edgbaston, told TOI: “It’s a deeply worrying time for the Sikh community following another horrific racially aggravated rape of a young Sikh woman in Walsall. The second such case after Oldbury.” Gill said she feared for her safety as well as of other women living in the area after the attacks on the two Sikh women. “The young girl in Oldbury was attacked at 8.30am in the morning going to work. What does it say about the level of hate and division? The repeated pattern of violence against women in our region, compounded by hate and racial overtones, is deeply disturbing.” Dabinderjit Singh, a lead executive at Sikh Federation (UK), said: “We have proposed to govt and police that it is important to know the religion and ethnicity of all victims of hate crimes. We are certain it will show Sikh hate crimes are 20 times higher than officially recognised and that Sikhs are the second most likely group to be targeted after Muslims.” He said Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, has written to home secretary Shabana Mahmood to ask for an urgent response on what govt is doing about anti-Sikh hate.
