A police manhunt is under way after a woman was dragged from her car and raped in a John Lewis car park in Cheadle, near Stockport.
The attack happened when the woman parked at the store at 7pm on Friday. The attacker opened the woman’s car door, dragged her into some nearby bushes and raped her.
Greater Manchester police have issued an urgent appeal for information about the assailant. He is described as an Asian man aged about 40, of medium build, with black hair and thick black “monobrow” eyebrows.
He is also described as having distinctive heavily pockmarked, open-pored skin on his face. At the time of the attack he was wearing black jogging bottoms.
Det Insp Richard Ennis said: “This young lady has suffered a deeply traumatic ordeal and we have a team of detectives who are working on this case to try and identify the man that did this to her.
“We believe that the area close to where the victim was parked in her car is used as a cut-through between Wilmslow-Handforth bypass and the junction of Wilmslow Road and Etchells Road and we are appealing for anyone that may have seen a man fitting this description hanging around this area to please get in touch.
“The description of this attacker is very distinctive, with deep pock-type scars on his face and I am hoping that this may jog someone’s memory to call us, so we can find the person responsible and take him off our streets.”
After the assault, the attacker is said to have run off into the undergrowth in the direction of Wilmslow Road.
The victim, aged in her late 20s, visited St Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Manchester following the attack. She reported the incident to police on Sunday.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact police at Stockport on 0161 856 9770 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
