Four teenagers arrested for racially abusing Muslim couple and baby on Metrolink tram

The Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and the Manchester Evening News all report on an anti-Muslim hate crime on a tram in Manchester this past weekend which has resulted in the arrest of four teenagers.

The incident occurred last Friday and was recorded by one of the victims who uploaded video footage of the incident on to Facebook. The post has since been viewed over a million times and has been forwarded to Greater Manchester Police to assist in their investigation.

The footage shows a group of six teenage girls getting onto the tram service at Shaw and Crompton station and directing their attention to a Muslim couple travelling with a young child. One of the girls referred to the Muslim woman’s face veil, the niqab, saying “aren’t you feeling hot in that?”

The woman replied “that shouldn’t concern you”.

As the woman’s husband intervened, the girls became verbally abusive. Despite his efforts to reason with the girls, stating that his wife’s mother had just passed away, the girls show no remorse or empathy and continued swearing and using abusive language. One of them threatened to punch the Muslim woman in the face.

The Muslim couple were only spared further abuse on the busy tram when off-duty police officers at the other end of the tram came to their assistance and removed the girls at the next stop.

In a statement Greater Manchester Police said: “Police investigating the racial abuse of a man and woman on a tram have made a number of arrests. At around 3.30pm on Friday 12 June 2015, the two victims and their young child were travelling on the Metrolink between Shaw and Manchester when they were racially abused by a group of teenage girls.

“Following enquiries by officers, 4 girls aged between 16 and 18 have been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.

“Further enquiries are on-going in an effort to identify and arrest the other offenders.”

Research shows that Muslim women are more likely to be victims of anti-Muslim hate crime often singled out because of their dress. News reports recently highlighted the case of a Muslim woman who had her headscarf pulled off while travelling to collect her children from school. Other cases include a woman who was abused in a Cambridge park as she played with her young daughter, and a Muslim woman who was verbally abused by a passenger on a bus in Walthamstow.

Researchers have pointed to the incendiary media coverage of the veil as a factor in the prejudice and violence exhibited towards Muslim women who adhere to Islamic dress codes.