News is coming in about the murder of a visible Muslim woman who was walking on the Salary Brook Trail in Essex. She was violently beaten and then stabbed and has subsequently died.
The 30-year-old woman was said to be wearing a blue Abaya and a Hijab and was pronounced dead on the scene after paramedics tried to resuscitate her. Essex police provided this comment to Sky news:
“We are conscious that the dress of the victim will have identified her as likely being a Muslim and this is one of the main lines of the investigation but again there is no firm evidence at this time that she was targeted because of her religion.”
The Director of TELL MAMA, Fiyaz Mughal OBE, said:
“We have to wait and see what the investigation throws up though the murder of a young person in such circumstances is shocking. What we have seen in our project, is that visibly Muslim women are the ones targeted at a street level for anti-Muslim comments and general abuse. Those who wear the Niqab or Abaya have stated to us that they suffer more incidents and more aggressive anti-Muslim incidents when asked. Visibility clearly plays a role and sadly it is mostly Muslim women who bear the brunt of street based incidents.
We must all spare a thought for the family of this young woman and the pain and suffering that they must be going through.”