UK: Muslim couple attacked on train

UK: Muslim couple attacked on train


Police are searching for a gang of about 20 Derby men after an attack on a Muslim couple on a train to Nottingham.


Abida Malik said the men called her and her husband Asif Ahmed terrorists. One man put Mr Ahmed in a headlock saying he was making a citizen's arrest.


The gang boarded the train at Loughborough on Easter Sunday evening, after what British Transport Police believe was a drinking session.


Officers have described it as an "unpleasant and nasty" incident.


Abida Malik, who wears the hijab - or headscarf - was travelling home after a wedding in Leicester with her husband.


She said: "I was full of fear, my heart was beating really fast and I felt so helpless because there was so many of them.


"Everyone seemed too scared to do anything... Now I don't want to travel on the train by myself, and I don't want him (Asif) to go by himself. They could have stabbed him".


It is believed the gang of up to 20 had been drinking in Loughborough before boarding the train at 1847 BST to Nottingham and then later returning to Derby.


The man who grabbed Mr Ahmed in a headlock is described as of mixed race, in his mid 30s with short black hair. He was scruffy and wearing a grey top and dark trousers.


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Source: BBC (English)