Man arrested after woman 'slammed' to ground

Ayla Mellek says she has read about similar experiences after sharing her story on social media

A man has been arrested after a woman was reportedly "slammed" to the ground on an east London canal path.

Ayla Mellek told BBC London she was walking with a friend along the Mile End canal path when a man ran into her with such force she was knocked down despite having "space on the path to pass freely".

After the alleged attack on 4 May, the 20-year-old posted her story on TikTok and said she received hundreds of comments from people, most of whom were women, sharing similar experiences.

The Metropolitan Police said a 38-year-old man from Whitechapel has been arrested on suspicion of common assault in relation to the alleged attack on Ms Mellek as well as a second incident.

Ms Mellek said the incident happened "so quickly" and the man could not have "accidentally slammed someone to the ground with that much force and then just run away".

She said she was close to falling into the water but was grateful to have missed dangerous items like glass and metal on the path when she fell, landing instead on grass.

After returning home, she posted the TikTok video to warn others about the incident.

In the video, Ms Mellek stated: "Please. If you're in London, you need to be so careful."

She told BBC London: "I had one comment which generally made me so upset.

"There was this one woman and she said she was pregnant and some guy just slammed her into the ground.

"But also it's reading all the comments online about other women and their experiences, how it's happened on the train, on the buses, just walking down the street in broad daylight."

Ms Mellek said she was shoved to the ground along a canal in Bethnal Green

Ms Mellek said she was worried that that these incidents, while potentially starting as minor, "have the potential to escalate".

She added: "Why should women like myself and others around London have to wait for an incident to become so severe?"

A Met Police spokesperson said the man who has been arrested is also under investigation over an incident in which a 60-year-old man was allegedly pushed while walking along Commercial Road, Bethnal Green, and fell into nearby parked car on 2 April.

Acting Det Ch Supt Brittany Clarke said: "We are very aware of the concern this has caused in the local community. While we have a man in custody, local officers will continue to patrol around the canal and surrounding areas."

She encouraged anyone with information on similar incidents to contact the police.