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Police have released footage showing the horrific moments an 18-year-old girl was hit over the head and brutally raped behind a garden hedge.

The disturbing CCTV footage shows the terrified teenager being dragged from a bus stop and hit with a stone as the high hedge shields her attacker from a busy road in Leeds, West Yorks.

She is seen being thrown onto the grass and her ordeal only ends when her attacker calmly walks away leaving her for dead on the dimly-lit lawn.

Detectives described the cctv footage as “harrowing”.

It was released as officers step up efforts to catch the rapist who carried out the brutal assault at a bus stop in Leeds, West Yorks, last Friday night.

(Image: Ross parry)

Speaking from the scene in the Beeston area of Leeds, Detective Superintendent Nick Wallen from West Yorkshire Police warned the assault “could happen again”.

He said: “We thought very long and hard about releasing this footage due to the dramatic nature of it.

“Securing the consent of the victim and her family was the main consideration and it is their express wish that we do this to assist in bringing the offender to justice.

“We felt it was important to give people a first-hand insight into the nature of this offence in the hope it will encourage them to think very carefully about anything they may have seen in the area around the time or if they have any suspicions about someone they know.”

He added: “This is no time for family loyalties.

"If you suspect something about a family member or someone you live with, I urge you to come forward.”

(Image: Mark Readman /YNMS)

The detective described the footage calling it “harrowing in nature”, but said police hoped its release may jog the memories of anyone in the area when the attack happened at 11.50pm last Friday.

He said: “The moment the footage was played to officers, you could have heard a pin drop.

"It is absolutely appalling.

“We have understandably edited out the more graphic and disturbing moments when the victim is subjected to an appalling level of violence before being left for dead.

“It does however show the victim struggling with the man as she is dragged into a nearby garden from the bus stop on Beeston Road.

“The next clip shows the man walking calmly away as the victim lies motionless.

“Although the footage is not of sufficient quality to identify the suspect directly it may be that something about the general size, shape or movement of the suspect means something to someone out there when put together with the e-fit image we have released.

“The description remains of him being of Pakistani or Middle Eastern origin, aged in his earlies twenties, slim, with receding black hair.

“He was wearing dark clothing and possibly a light blue top with a hood.”