Writing a post to introduce herself to the community as Leicestershire Police new hate crime officer, Sumaya Bihi was shocked by the amount of hateful comments she received on social media.
“Hello everyone🖐🏽, I hope you all are having a great Monday morning. I would like to introduce myself to you as the Hate Crime Officer for Leicestershire Police,” Bihi wrote in a post on Twitter on October 3.
“I will now be using this twitter handle as the Hate Crime officer. Please feel free to DM me with any queries or concerns,” she added.
Hello everyone🖐🏽,I hope you all are having a great Monday morning.I would like to introduce myself to you as the Hate Crime Officer for Leicestershire Police.I will now be using this twitter handle as the Hate Crime officer.Please feel free to DM me with any queries or concerns. pic.twitter.com/VZUaZSyJfU
— Leicestershire Police Stay Safe (@LPStaySafe) October 3, 2022
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After the post went public, she faced a barrage of abuse from numerous Twitter accounts who used racist and derogatory language about her appearance and hijab, Leicestershire Live reported.
Police Investigating
In response to the racist attacks on the new officer, Leicestershire Police said they will be investigating those trolls.
“We are supporting our hate crime officer in a number of ways. Unacceptable messages have been reported to Twitter and we have opened our own inquiries into the abuse,” police said.
Muslim women have always been the prime victim of hate attacks in different parts of the world, including the UK.
The majority of hate attacks target visibly Muslim women, such as hijabi or niqabi women.
The number of religious hate crimes recorded by police that targeted Muslims was 3,459, a 42% increase since last year.