Police have arrested a 57-year-old man on suspicion of assault.
A video has surfaced on the internet showing a hooded man in the UK attacking a Muslim woman in broad daylight in a suspected racist attack, Metro reported. A video of the incident that has gone viral shows the woman wearing hijab standing on a street in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, on Tuesday. Seconds later, a hooded man comes charging towards her and hurls a concrete slab at her head. Thankfully, the woman is able to move out of the way. She is then seen running away from the attacker towards two bystanders.
An X user shared the video and wrote, ”This is absolutely horrific – a hijab-wearing Muslim woman has had a paving slab thrown at her head by a white man in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.”
Watch the video here:
This is absolutely horrific – a hijab wearing Muslim woman has had a paving slab thrown at her head by a white man in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
Violent Islamophobia is on the increase. pic.twitter.com/AqjNBRIqiI
— Waqas Tufail (@_WaqasTufail) October 25, 2023
Her husband Eid Karimi told The Independent, ”I went inside to get food and she chose to wait outside in the rain because she had an umbrella. Suddenly I saw people running around and this guy. He tried to run but I ran after him and grabbed him. He was shouting ‘Don’t call the police, I won’t do it again. We were holding him down for the police to arrive. He knew he was in trouble.”
Though she didn’t suffer any injuries, she is ”shocked and stressed”, her husband added.
Many internet users were left shocked to see the video and hoped that the woman was okay.
One user wrote, ”Appalling. I hope that she’s okay.” Another wrote, ”This is awful. What a world when we don’t embrace our differences and learn from one another, instead such hatred from small-minded bigots and racists. I hope this lady is ok.”
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman refused to confirm if the attack was being treated as a hate crime. He said, ”We are aware of this video and can assure residents such incidents are treated extremely seriously. A man has been arrested in connection with the offence and enquiries are ongoing by Kirklees Police.”
Last week, London police said they had recorded a 1,353% increase in antisemitic offences this month compared to the same period last year, while Islamophobic offences were up 140% in the wake of the attack by Hamas on Israel.
