On Saturday, sisters Ruhi and Fatema Rahman had a terrible encounter after a man racially abused them on Newcastle’s Metro, in which he aggressively told them to ‘get off’ because it is 'his country'. He went on to tell passengers that the ‘women might bomb the train’.
But in a turn of events, the commuters did not stay silent and united to force the man off the train at the following stop.
The sisters, who were born in the city, were overwhelmed by the support, with Fatema, 36, a community worker, telling the Daily Mail that she ‘felt so much love’. Ruhi, 23, a make-up artist, added that once the man was forced off the train, ‘everyone started clapping and cheering when he got off, one lady started crying’.
This overwhelming sign of solidarity to Muslims comes after the attacks in Paris, in which 129 people died. According to Tell Mama, there have been 115 reported cases of anti-Muslim hate crime in the UK since then. As a response, social media users started using the hashtag #iammuslim. Fatema said 'with everything going on in Paris, I started to feel paranoid but the people who stood up for us showed me that there are nice people in the world'.
The majority of the attacks have been against women and girls aged 14 to 45, who were wearing traditional Islamic dress.
Police are investigating the incident and have appealed for information.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.