Man held over alleged sexual assault of Polish woman at Petrie

UPDATE: A woman who was brutally assaulted in Brisbane has died in a car crash — the same week a man has been charged over her attack.

Police yesterday charged a man over the sexual assault of a Polish woman in Petrie.

A WOMAN who was brutally assaulted in Brisbane has died in a car crash in Poland — the same week a man has been charged over her attack.

“It is with sadness the Queensland Police Service can confirm that the victim of a serious sexual assault in Petrie last year passed away this week following a traffic incident in Poland,” police said.

“Support is being provided to the family and friends of the 24-year-old Polish woman.”

A man was due to front court today accused of sexually assaulting the Polish woman in Petrie last year.

Police allege the 24-year-old woman was out walking about 8.30pm on November 25, when she was sexually assaulted in the car park of a council complex near the intersection of Baybaroo and Beerville roads.

The man is accused of grabbing the woman and bashing her so savagely that her nose was broken. As she reeled from her injuries, she was also raped, police allege.

She was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital with additional facial injuries and required surgery.

The woman returned to Poland in December, as police pushed on with a series of public appeals to find her attacker.

Investigators released images and CCTV footage of the area on the night of the attack, and used a mannequin dressed in the same clothes as the woman to trigger the memories of people who may have passed the area.

Police yesterday charged a 28-year-old man from Petrie with rape, assault with intent to commit rape and acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm.

He is expected to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court today.

— additional reporting by AAP

Originally published as Man held over alleged sexual assault of Polish woman at Petrie