A Muslim woman was subjected to an unprovoked assault from a female passenger when exiting a train at Stratford Underground station in broad daylight.

The assault happened during the morning rush hour at around 9:06 am on February 7.

The woman, who wears the hijab and abaya, was repeatedly pushed by the perpetrator who muttered ‘for f*** sake’ multiple times in her direction, as the train departed from Ilford Underground station.

Upon exiting the train, the perpetrator then shoved her again, causing her to almost fall into the gap between the train and platform edge. When the Muslim woman asked her to wait, the woman replied: “No I can’t f****** wait, you f****** b*tch.’

She then punched the Muslim woman in the stomach, a second punch aimed again at her stomach hit her bag instead.

A Tell MAMA caseworker reported the incident to the British Transport Police (BTP) on her behalf after being given the consent to do so. She was grateful for the additional support from our staff.

In a statement to Tell MAMA, the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “The feeling I’m experiencing is nothing short of anxiety. This woman managed to make me feel unsafe throughout the five minutes that I was standing next to her and the fact that she had the nerve to get physical was appalling.

“This feeling of being unsafe has stayed with me which is quite difficult to deal with considering I use public transport to get to university. It’s quite sad how this woman will probably go about her day-to-day life as if this was no big deal but to me it’s had a massive impact and I feel like I have to watch my back purely based on the fact that someone may have an issue with the way that I look and dress i.e. in a headscarf and an abaya, and that isn’t right.”

The number of assaults reported to Tell MAMA in 2016 rose by 62 per cent, with 120 verified reports, up from the 74 verified reports in the previous year. A minority of perpetrators were female (19 per cent).

A separate incident reported to Tell MAMA recently is also being investigated by the BTP.

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