KEY POINTS:
Police are hunting two men who dragged a young woman off a Christchurch street and sexually assaulted her in what they describe as a brazen daylight attack this morning.
The woman was walking along Chester St West between the Christchurch District Court building and Victoria Square between 10am and 10.30am when she was grabbed by the pair and dragged behind a hedge.
Detective Sergeant Mark Reid of Christchurch CIB said the woman was indecently assaulted but fought the men and yelled out to a passer-by who intervened.
The men then ran off.
Mr Reid said the 21-year-old was uninjured but very distressed.
"It was a brazen attack to say the least," he said. "It's in a pretty main thoroughfare."
The area between Victoria Square, the Salvation Army Citadel and the Crowne Plaza Hotel is popular with tourists and is overlooked by the several storeys of windows in the Christchurch court complex.
Mr Reid said such an incident involving two attackers was unusual, and the attack was in broad daylight.
"It's unusual also for that time of day.
"Something like this hasn't happened for a long time so we just want to make sure we find these guys."
Police were seeking witnesses and also wanted to talk to the man who halted the assault.
"Had it not been for his actions the offending against this young woman would likely have continued and escalated in nature," Mr Reid said.
The good samaritan had checked that the woman was okay after her attackers ran off and helped pick up some of her property. He then walked away without giving the woman his details.
"We still want to speak to him, most definitely, to thank him for what he's done and to see if he can assist us further," Mr Reid said.
Police were "backtracking" on the woman's movements before the incident after she indicated she may have been followed. She was walking to the city's bus exchange.
"We haven't had a chance to fully interview her yet, but that was just something she said was in her mind," he said.
While the woman hadn't suffered any physical injuries she was "obviously very distressed, understandably so".
Her attackers were described as a Maori aged 20 to 25, with longish hair, unshaven, and with tattoos on his arms, and a Caucasian aged about 21, with short mousey blond hair and acne all over his face.
Police wanted to hear from any witnesses to the attack.
- NZPA
