Islamophobia in UK: Woman’s Hijab Ripped Off on London Streets!

Local Editor

In a racially-motivated attack, a young woman's hijab was ripped off on a busy London street in broad daylight, prompting Scotland Yard to launch a probe into the assault.

The London police are appealing for witnesses and information about an incident in which a woman had her hijab pulled down by two men, which is thought to have been a racially motivated attack.

The incident happened on September 28 in High Road, north London at around 7:30 pm local time. The woman was walking with a female friend, crossing the road by the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, when two men came up from behind her.

The Metropolitan police said one pulled down her hijab, after which both suspects ran off towards Pelham Road.

Scotland Yard described the first attacker as white, in his late 20s or early 30s, while the other was of the same age and had a Mediterranean appearance.

"That was a shocking attack in broad daylight in the middle of a busy street," Detective Constable Ben Cousin of the Haringey Community Safety Unit told the media. "Racially and religiously-motivated crimes will not be tolerated. I would appeal to anyone who witnessed this attack to contact police."

Police had not arrested anyone in connection with the incident, but said anybody with any information about the suspects should contact the department.

The Council of Europe's commission tackling racism had noted a recent surge in xenophobic attitudes in the UK, adding that some politicians and tabloids had contributed.

Since June 23 when Britons opted for an exit from the European Union, there had been an upsurge in the hate crime reported across the country.

Since then, UK police had arrested over 400 people suspected of committing hate crimes, a figure which is double the number of offenses before the Leave vote.

On October 4, the Strasbourg-based council, a human rights and democracy watchdog body separate from the EU, released a report, expressing its concern over what it called a rise in "anti-foreigner sentiment."

In the report, the Council's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance [ECRI] condemned "considerable intolerant political discourse in the UK, particularly focusing on immigration."

The report also provided evidence that anti-Muslim hate speech targeting women had rocketed online, through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team