London transport police are investigating the abuse of two Muslim women who were subjected to an islamophobic rant after a video of the incident was shared on social media.
The video, which was shot by a fellow passenger, shows a woman who is accompanied by a child in a stroller shouting at two Muslim women. She recurrently calls the Muslim women “ISIS b****es” telling them “go back to your country”.
The victim family, who were Italian nationals, Umm Lina, her 52-year-old mother and three-year-old daughter, faced ongoing abuse as they rode a 206 bus through northwest London, reveals the Standard.
The woman even threatened to punch Lina, who is pregnant, in the stomach.
The video of the ruckus which was uploaded to Facebook was viewed more than 750,000 times before it was taken down.
Detectives are questioning a 36-year-old woman from Willesden Green on suspicion of a racially-aggravated public order offence in connection with the incident on the bus, reveals Scotland Yard. She is being held in custody at a police station in north London today.
Islamophobic hate crimes against Muslims in London have increased by 70%, according to Metropolitan police.
The police statistics show a total of 816 hate crimes against Muslims in the 12 months to July 2015, up from 478 over the same period in 2013-14. Overall racist and religious hate crimes in London increased by 27% with 13,007 incidents recorded.
London’s Metropolitan Police said “world events” may have contributed to the increase in hate crimes, while there was also a rise in incidents on holy days when Muslim communities were more “visible”.
