A Muslim woman was knocked down and dragged along the pavement by her hijab in a busy shopping precinct.
The Evening Standard reports that two white men approached her from behind in a hair salon and tried to remove her headscarf.
The 27-year-old was forced to the ground and dragged for several metres in Chingford Mount, north London.
Witnesses say she was left lying on the floor for almost 20 minutes before managing to dial 999 and limp to a Turkish restaurant.
The attack happened on Wednesday morning but is just now being reported.
A waiter at the Fes restaurant told the Evening Standard: “The poor girl was shaking like a leaf, we had to sit her down and give her water before she could speak. She told us two white guys shoved her then dragged her along the floor by her headscarf and left her on the pavement. She was having a panic attack when we saw her and could barely breathe. It’s sickening that people can do this.”
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said officers were investigating the incident, said to have taken place just after 8.30pm on Wednesday.
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Latest figures from Scotland Yard show reports of Islamaphobic hate crime have risen by almost two-thirds in the past 12 months, up from 844 to 1,335.
