Video goes viral after Mansfield-born woman subjected to Islamophobic rant in town centre

26-year-old Dina Singh was out shopping with her friend Fatima Khokher and Fatima’s three-year-old son when a stranger confronted her, screaming expletives in her face and accusing her of being a ‘terrorist’.

Dina was born in Mansfield Woodhouse and wears a mixture of western and traditional Muslim clothing, and had opted to wear a headscarf for her shopping trip when the incident occurred, which was videoed by a passerby.

The mother-of-three, who has just finished her law degree and is currently completing her Masters says that, unfortunately, the abuse is far from an isolated incident.

She explained: “I was born in Mansfield, and so were my family and several generations before me – this is my home.

"Unfortunately, whenever I choose to wear a headdress or Muslim clothing, I get stared at, people mutter under their breath, or shout abuse – but this was awful.

"The woman just walked up to me and started screaming in my face about my religion and offering to fight me – in front of Fatima’s little boy.

"It was quite shocked that she was happy to abuse us in such a public space and in front of a small child.”

The altercation came to an end when town centre security intervened, but the whole episode was recorded by a concerned shopper who gave Dina the footage for evidence.

Dina reported the incident to Nottinghamshire Police who confirmed today that a 41-year-old woman has been arrested and that they were taking the incident ‘extremely seriously’.

Superintendent Sukesh Verma, Nottinghamshire Police’s strategic hate lead, said: “We received a report from a member of the public about an incident on Friday, November 19, and are investigating a potential racially aggravated public offence.

“A woman has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offence.

“She remains in custody as enquires continue.

“We are aware of a video of the incident that is circulating on social media and want to reassure the public that we are investigating this fully.

“Nottinghamshire Police take any reports of racially aggravated crimes or incidents extremely seriously and want to encourage anyone who is a victim of hate to report it to the police by calling 101, via CrimeStoppers or through True Vision’s dedicated hate reporting site.”

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