Police apprehended a man in his 30s Thursday for allegedly beating and raping a woman on a hiking trail in Seoul.

The man is suspected of striking the victim with a blunt metal weapon before sexually assaulting her on a hillside in Sillim-dong, southwestern Seoul.

He was caught at the scene at 12:10 p.m. by the police, who rushed there following a report from hikers that they had heard the victim's cries for help.

The woman was immediately transported to a hospital but remains unconscious.

Police believe the attacker and the victim did not know each other.

The Gwanak Police Station is questioning the suspect and plans to apply for an arrest warrant Friday.

Sillim-dong is the location where a 33-year-old man carried out a stabbing rampage near a subway station on July 21, killing one person and wounding three others.

It was followed by another shocking incident on Aug. 3, in which a man drove a car onto a pedestrian walkway and attacked people with a knife at a department store in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, killing one person and wounding 13 others.

Following the incidents, the police have beefed up security nationwide by increasing patrols and implementing stop-and-search procedures. (Yonhap)