- Masoomeh Jafari was left terrified after dozens of youngsters attacked her
- About five of the girls aged 11 to 14 allegedly called her a 'f***ing Muslim'
- They were confronted stealing goods from the store on Sunday afternoon
- Ms Jafari had headscarf grabbed twice at store in Sutton, South London
A Muslim woman claimed today that her hijab was ripped from her head by a mob of schoolchildren as she tried to stop them stealing from Poundland.
Masoomeh Jafari, 26, from Sutton, South London, has revealed how she was left terrified after up to 30 youngsters attacked her, grabbing her headscarf twice.
About five of the girls aged between 11 and 14 allegedly called her a 'f***ing Muslim' after they were confronted stealing goods from the store on Sunday afternoon at about 3pm.
Poundland worker: Masoomeh Jafari, 26, claimed she was left terrified after up to 30 youngsters attacked her
Ms Jafari, who has worked at the Poundland store for six years, said: 'They came in here shouting and stealing things and I told them to stop.
'A group started swearing at me, saying things about my religion and the clothes I wear. Then they grabbed my headscarf twice. I was very frightened.'
Shocked passer-by Patricia Rose, 69, of Sutton, said: 'They were saying "f*** this" and "f*** that" and they were trying to get back into the shop after they had tried to steal things.
'I then went into Poundland and saw the lady. She is a delightful person and her head was down. She told me that the children had pulled at her hijab and had sworn at her.'
Taking items: About five of the girls aged between 11 and 14 allegedly called Ms Jafari a 'f***ing Muslim' after they were confronted stealing goods from the Poundland store (file picture) on Sunday afternoon at about 3pm
Mrs Rose - who slammed the incident as 'so, so wrong' - said police officers attended the shop but the group had left and there was no CCTV footage to help identify those involved.
Ms Jafari added: 'This has happened before. Sometimes they come in after school, sometimes on the weekends - we catch some of the children stealing from the shop and they are rude to us. I was really upset after it happened.
'I told my parents about it and they said that I should think about finding work somewhere else. But I have been here for so many years and this was not a problem until recently.'
Poundland said it will look into the matter, while Sutton Police said it had no record of the abuse.
A force spokesman added: 'We would encourage anyone who has been a victim of hate crime to report it and we will investigate it robustly. Hate crime is an under-reported crime and should be reported when it occurs.'
References
- ^ Mark Duell for MailOnline (www.dailymail.co.uk)
