Police are appealing for information after a 17-year-old girl may have been sexually assaulted in Bethnal Green as she made her way home from a night out with friends.
Detectives are probing the theory that she may have been drugged before the alleged attacks took place on September 29.
After visiting a Tower Hamlets nightclub, the men are thought to have struck between 11.55pm and 12.55am as the girl tried to make her way home to central London.
CCTV footage shows the victim being carried along Cambridge Heath Road by one of the suspects.
Other pieces of footage show her stumbling down Mint Street, her clothes dishevelled, near Bethnal Green station, as she was followed by a bearded man on a racing bike.
This man follows her down Three Colts Lane, heading towards Bethnal Green Overground Station.
When the next camera picks her up, the man has approached her and they have reached Corfield Street. The man then directs her to a place set back from the main road.
Police believe that minutes later the victim then suffered a third attack, this time possibly involving multiple men.
A third man is caught on CCTV bending down towards the kerb, between some parked cars. It is thought that it is at this point the victim was sexually assaulted.
Police say this man has a distinctive gait - he walks unevenly and could be bow-legged.
A member of the public called 999 after finding her in a distressed state.
It is thought the girl could have been drugged by the men and police are trying to establish this through testing.
Detective Inspector Suzanne Jordan, from the Met’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 people responsible for these hideous crimes. I would urge anyone who recognises the men in these images to contact us as a matter of urgency.”
Anyone with information should contact the Met on 101 or via twitter at @MetCC.
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