A woman in hijab has been victim of racial abuse in the Newcastle metro when a thug shouted she was going to ‘bomb the train’ and demanded she get off.
Ruhi Rahman was sitting quietly with her sister, but the man wouldn’t leave them alone he kept saying it was ‘my country’ – and even accused her of plotting a bomb threat.
Travellers on the train from Newcastle to Whitley Bay, many of them football fans, were disgusted by the man’s behaviour and rushed to Ruhi’s defence, demanding he leave her alone before forcing him off the Metro. As he left the train in shame, other passengers cheered and clapped. Ms Rehman has thanked her co-passengers who stepped in for her.
Sharon Kelly, managing director at DB Regio Tyne and Wear, which operates the Metro on behalf of Nexus, said: ‘We urge anyone with information about this incident to contact the police.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 ext 69191 quoting reference number 191 23/11/15.
Increasing Islamophobia in the UK
Muslims in the UK have reportedly suffered more than 100 racial attacks since the terrorist atrocities in Paris, figures prepared for ministers reveal.
A report to the Government's working group on anti-Muslim hatred, as seen by the newspaper The Independent, has shown a spike in Islamophobic hate crime of more than 300%, to 115, in the week following the killings on November 13 in France.
The victims are mainly girls and women aged from 14 to 45 in traditional Islamic dress (or hijabs). The perpetrators were mainly white males aged from 15 to 35.
The figures were compiled by the Tell Mama helpline, which records incidents of verbal and physical attacks on Muslims and mosques in the UK. They are likely to be a significant underestimate of the total, as it is believed that many victims are too frightened to contact police or community groups.
