Woman with dogs pushed Muslim family and shouted “f*** off” at a pedestrian crossing

A Muslim woman, walking with her young daughter, described how a woman who had two medium-sized dogs with her, flouting social distancing guidelines, barged into them and shouted abuse as they waited to cross a street in East London.

Speaking to Tell MAMA, the mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, added that her young daughter, who is autistic and fearful of dogs, fell into the road after jumping to avoid contact with their dogs, and she was able to calm her by speaking to her in Arabic.

The perpetrator then shouted various non-sequiturs and abuse at them, including “f*** off” and “f*** off, get back to work,” which the mother believes were motivated by anti-Muslim and Islamophobic prejudice, due to her hijab and speaking in Arabic.

She described the perpetrator as being a white female in her mid-to-late forties.

The Metropolitan Police are investigating the incident which occurred on July 25.

Consistent with existing research, a clear majority of reports to Tell MAMA in the interim months of 2019 (January to June), occurred in public areas (n=98).

During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we have documented examples of how in the realms of social media and on streets, individuals have targeted Muslims, whether with violence or acts of hate speech or racialised forms of online fakery.

Tell MAMA also called on the Conservative MP Craig Whittaker to apologise for his comments made on LBC radio.

Others have warned about rising racism in areas like Oldham.

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