A Muslim teenager who was harassed on the New York subway by three drunk men shouting ‘Donald Trump’ is now missing from home.
Terrified 18-year-old student Yasmin Seweid was on her way home from college when three white men started hurling abuse at her, calling her a terrorist and telling her “go back to your country”.
They reportedly ripped the straps from her bag and referred to her religious head wear as a “rag”.
A relative of Yasmin went to the Nassau County Police Department on Thursday to report her missing, the New York Daily News reports.
She was last seen leaving her Paul St. home in New Hyde Park, at 8 pm on Wednesday.
She was wearing a black jacket, black head scarf, black yoga pants and was carrying a bag of clothes.
Yasmin was travelling on the New York subway earlier this month when she heard the trio talking about president-elect, Donald Trump.
As the journey progressed the conversation changed to terrorists before they launched a verbal and physical attack on Miss Seweid, she told New York’s Daily News .
Posting on her Facebook page after the frightening ordeal, Miss Seweid said: “I was harassed on the subway last night and it was just so dehumanising I can’t speak about it without getting emotional.
“Three white racists ripped the straps off my bag and attempted to yank my hijab off my head.
“They yelled such disgusting slurs at me, I was so helpless and felt defenceless.
‘Look it’s a f****** terrorist’, ‘go back to your country’, ‘take that rag off your head’, and so much more.”
She later told the Daily News: “I was very shaken up … I’m definitely traumatised. “I’m really scared.”
When Miss Seweid asked the men to leave her alone they reportedly laughed in her face then followed her to the other end of the carriage where they physically attacked her.
The brave student, who was born in Brooklyn, America, to Egyptian parents, said she is heartbroken that so many people stood by and let the attack happen with not a single person stepping in to defend her.
She believes Trump’s recent election has helped to legitimise the behaviour she was subjected to.
She continued: “Trump’s name was repeatedly said and it finally clicked in my head. No matter how ‘cultured’ or ‘Americanised’ I am, these people don’t see me as an American.
“It breaks my heart that so many individuals chose to be bystanders while watching me get harassed verbally and physically by these disgusting pigs.
“Trump America is real and I witnessed it first-hand last night. What a traumatising night.”
She elaborated on her point to the Daily News, adding: “It made me really sad afterwards when I thought about it.
“People were looking at me and looking at what was happening and no one said a thing. They just looked away.”
Miss Seweid left an event at Baruch College, part of The City University of New York (CUNY), at about 10pm and was travelling home on the East Side subway.
She got off the train at Grand Central Terminal where she called her dad and they reported the alleged attack to police.
Her father Sayeed Seweid, 55, was furious that no-one stepped in to help his daughter.
He told the American newspaper: “Nobody even offered to help an 18-year-old girl. That means something. Her phone was dying. You offer help — it doesn’t matter the race, religion, or the country.”
Police are now investigating and have scoured CCTV looking for the disgusting trio.
Miss Seweid’s horrific experience is the latest in a long line of hate crimes to take place in New York since Trump’s shock election.
Police told the Daily News that from November 8 to 27 there were 34 reported incidents compared to 13 in the same period in 2015.
Afaf Nasher, executive director of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said: “American Muslims, and particularly men and women who wear religious attire, are being increasingly targeted by hate nationwide in the wake of the election.”
Speaking to her friends via Facebook, Miss Seweid added: “Please stay safe everyone and never let anyone take your rights away. Just thought I should share that with you all tonight.”
