Two Muslim women were attacked by strangers in parks, with both incidents being reported within days of each other.
A woman wearing a hijab veil in Greatfields Park in Barking was repeatedly punched in the head by two white women who branded her a “Muslim terrorist”.
It was one of two racially-motivated incidents reported last week to anti-Muslim attack support service Tell Mama, which is run by the charity Faith Matters.
Although the woman didn’t speak English, her young child understood what the attackers were calling his mother, and alerted the police and the charity – telling them she had been left traumatised by the ordeal.
The incident, on Sunday, May 5, happened at around 5.30pm when the 48-year-old victim was playing with her two children. An argument broke out between her children and another child over the swings and when she tried to intervene, two women – one thought to be another parent – confronted her.
The victim, a Somalian who wants to remain anonymous, made motions to say she could not speak English, but the women attacked her, punching her on the head while shouting racist accusations. The suspects, both white females, left the park in a blue car and the victim was taken to hospital with swelling and bruising.
The charity said another woman wearing a hijab was verbally-abused by a young girl in Valence Park, Dagenham, who set her dog on the victim and her young children.