Staff at a branch of the sandwich chain Subway in west London told a Muslim woman to just ‘ignore’ the racial abuse directed at her by a fellow customer.
The incident which occurred on February 14, began when the woman, who wears the hijab, was paying for her food when a man approached the counter and muttered ‘no Muslims’ at her several times.
The abuse continued as he said ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘You have a bomb in your bag’. Fearing for her safety, the woman called for her friends to stand with her but it did not deter him from abusing them.
He then said: “Get out of this country, get out of this shop,” and told her not to ‘look’ at him as she was a ‘dirty’ Muslim. Other comments directed at her included a reference to ‘dirty’ halal meat.
No staff member attempted to stop the abuse directed at the woman and her friends, suggesting that she just ‘ignore it’, and he was then able to purchase his food without any hindrance, according to the woman when she spoke to Tell MAMA.
The abuse left her fearful due to the unprovoked nature of the incident.
She described the perpetrator as being a white male in his 50s or 60s who spoke with a ‘European’ accent.
Tell MAMA reported the incident to the police on behalf of the woman and we will be raising this case further with the company.
A spokesperson for Subway contacted Tell MAMA and said: “We are looking into this incident as a matter of priority and take reports of discrimination very seriously. We do not condone discriminatory behavior of any kind.”
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