POLICE have launched a major manhunt after a 17-year-old girl was sexually assaulted on THREE separate occasions as she walked home from a night out.

The teenager was attacked repeatedly over the course of an hour after she became separated from her friends following a visit to a club in Tower Hamlets, East London.

5 One of the three suspects - dubbed Suspect 3 by police - walks down the road in Corfield Street, East London

Cops were alerted when the distressed victim was found lying half-naked on the ground by a passer-by.

Police, who have released CCTV footage of two of the men suspected of being involved, said her ordeal started shortly before midnight on Friday September 29 when she was picked up on camera being carried by a man in Cambridge Heath Road.

The pair are then seen appearing to go into a doorway in the same road, after which the man, who was wearing dark clothing, is not seen again on camera.

Items of the top half of the girl's clothing were subsequently found nearby.

5 Another suspect - dubbed Suspect 2 by police - is seen walking near the scene

Shortly after midnight, another CCTV camera picks up the girl stumbling half-naked down Mint Street, being followed by a different, bearded male, on a racing bicycle.

Officers said the man followed the teenager along Mint Street, into Three Colts Lane, and then as she heads in the direction of Bethnal Green Overground station.

When the next camera picks her up, the man has approached her and they have reached Corfield Street.

Some time later, the camera picks up the man leaving the area and walking away.

5 A map of where the three separate attacks took place

The girl, whose clothing appears dishevelled, emerges shortly afterwards and goes further down Corfield Street.

Just minutes later, at 12.45am, as she walked along the street, she was raped under trees by a group of up to three men.

The gang, believed to be drug addicts, included a bow-legged man with a distinctive gait.

A short time later, a member of the public spotted the teenager lying on the ground in Corfield Street in a state of distress and called 999.

5 Police are hoping to speak to this man, Suspect 2, in connection with the incident

5 Suspect 3 is seen walking down the street near to where the sexual assault took place

Yesterday a local said: “It was very, very scary. She must have been terrified.”

Barber Jamel Gouader, who works in nearby Three Colts Lane: said: “I can’t believe no one came to help her.”

Detectives believe it is possible that she was drugged and are in the process of carrying out toxicology tests. They have pieced together CCTV and DNA evidence which suggests she was raped by two men.

Detective Inspector Suzanne Jordan, from the Metropolitan Police's child abuse and sexual offences command, said: "This is a horrific multiple sexual assault on an young female who was simply making her way home after a night out.

"We would like to thank the members of the public who intervened to help her and possibly prevented her ordeal from continuing even further.

"We believe two of the three were very serious sexual assaults indeed, and are determined to catch the persons responsible for these hideous crimes."

Police have released images of two men wanted in connection with the assaults.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or via twitter at @MetCC, or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

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