Three men arrested over alleged assault on Muslim woman in Hastings

The Hastings Observer reports that three people have been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated assault following an incident involving a Muslim woman in a headscarf.

A 25 year old Muslim woman, who wears a headscarf, was confronted by three men as she walked near the Hastings Museum. The paper reports that the woman crossed the road to avoid the men but as she walked on one of the men pulled at her headscarf and forcibly removed it. It is alleged that one of the attackers filmed the incident on his smartphone.

The local paper reports that police have arrested three people aged 21, 22 and 24 in connection with an incident which happened on 27 March at around 11am.

The victim was not hurt but PC Ian Riches of Sussex Police, said: “she felt degraded and was emotionally affected by the incident, which we believe was racially motivated.

“We are appealing to anyone who might have been in the area at the time and might have seen what happened to contact us,” he added.

The three men have been bailed until April 19.