Woman stalked on towpath and raped

A WOMAN has been stalked along the Rochdale Canal towpath in Manchester and raped.

The 41 years old woman noticed a man had been following her for around 15 minutes as she walked the Rochdale Canal towpath in Failsworth, Alan Tilbury reports.

Wooded area

Then when they arrived by a wooded area he caught up with her, dragged her off the towpath and raped her. This was across the canal from the Morrison's supermarket.

The attacked occurred around 7.30pm last Friday and the police are asking for any witnesses who were around at that time to contact them.  The man is described as black and in his late 20's or early 30's.

Horrifying incident

Detective Inspector Louise Edwards, stated:

“Clearly, this is a horrifying incident and we are supporting the victim through this process.  "Her welfare is absolutely paramount to us and we will continue to help her as best as we can.

“We are working hard to trace the perpetrator of this vile crime and have a dedicated team of detectives following every possible line of enquiry available to us."