Hate Crime Awareness video – mosque in Stevenage defaced with pork and dog faeces

Local paper, The Comet, reports on the ‘Hate Crime Awareness Day’ launched by Hertfordshire constabulary.

The paper notes an anti-Muslim hate crime against a mosque in Stevenage which was defaced with pork and dog faeces earlier this year.

“The mosque in Vardon Road was targeted earlier this year when offenders placed pork meat on the gated entrance to the building and over the handles of the front doors.

“The following day, dog excrement was smeared in front of the entrance to the centre, which was built in 2001 and is used by more than 1,000 people,” according to the paper.

Stevenage Muslim Community Centre management committee member, Salman Lone, who features in a video about hate crimes produced by Hertfordshire constabulary, said:

“It was quite a distressing situation for those who were present there and the rest of the community. People of Muslim faith take pork as quite a taboo meat because this is the only animal which is by name prohibited in the Qur’an.

“It was clearly a religious-motivated hate crime because the person doing it meant to incite some kind of disturbance in the community and they did achieve their purpose because people did feel let down in so many ways.”

The paper also notes that two men were arrested on suspicion of religious-related intimidation and harassment but were “later released and no further action was taken against them following a decision by the Crime Prosecution Service.”

Detective chief inspector Julie Wheatley said: “Hate crime is one of the most under reported forms of crime in the UK – particularly disability hate crime – and we are determined to change this in Hertfordshire.

“Hate crime is under reported because many victims just put up with negative behaviour and consider it as being part and parcel of everyday life if they are from a minority group.”

You can watch the Hate Crime Awareness video here.