Murder police probe assault link

Michelle Samaraweera's body was found in a park

Police investigating the rape and murder of a woman in east London are examining possible links with two assaults on women in the same area.

The body of Michelle Samaraweera, 35, from Walthamstow, was found in Queens Road park in the early hours of 30 May.

Her attacker has already been linked, using DNA, to two other rapes.

Police have appealed for information on a two assaults on women in South Grove and Markhouse Road, both Walthamstow, in March this year.

DNA link

Last month officers linked Ms Samaraweera's murder to two other rapes in the area.

In the first a 59-year-old woman was raped at her Queens Road home on 24 March by a man who forced his way into the property.

In the second attack, which happened in the South Grove area on 22 April, a 46-year-old woman was forced into an alleyway near Lea Bridge Road and raped.

The suspect has been described as being of Asian appearance, with dark skin and aged between 30 and 45.

The suspect is described as Asian and aged between 30 and 45

Five men have been arrested in connection with the inquiry. Four were released with no further action and the fifth man, aged 36, was bailed to return pending further inquiries.

On Thursday police said they were keen to trace witnesses to a further two assaults.

In the first assault, a man with a knife grabbed a 16-year-old girl in South Grove on 19 March. A group of three men intervened and she escaped.

In the second, a 46-year-old woman was grabbed and assaulted near St Saviour's Church, Markhouse Road, on 26 March. The suspect fled the scene when three men helped her.

Det Supt Vic Rae said: "The six men who acted so courageously and intervened are yet to come forward and they may have information which could greatly assist."