Islamophobia in England: Racist attack on Muslim families in Birmingham

Relatives of a Muslim man murdered by a racist said they have been recent victims of race hate abuse.

Mohammed Saleem, 82, was stabbed on his way home from a Birmingham mosque in 2013. Ukrainian Pavlo Lapshyn admitted killing him because he was not white.

The victim's daughter, Maz Saleem, said she and her mother were both recently racially abused and her nieces, aged 11 and 13, were insulted and spat at.

She said the hostility was frightening, especially after her father's death.

The 38-year-old said the family was fearful because of a recent rise in hate crime.

Her mother, who was racially abused by a passenger on a bus, was now too scared to leave her house, she said.

"My mum wears the hijab and abaya (long coat) and [the passenger] started saying that we should 'go back to our own country' and, 'look at what she's wearing'."

Ms Saleem said she was targeted by a woman on the London Underground as she tried to help a Muslim woman in Arabic dress, who was being abused by a passenger.

"I felt extremely disappointed that someone who doesn't know the person is judging them for the way they look, just because they look Muslim," she said.

The abuse her nieces received led to the family contacting local police.

"A lorry driver hurled racist, Islamophobic abuse at them because they were wearing hijabs.

"I don't like using the word, but he called them [the racist word] 'Paki' and then spat at them."

The incident was reported to Greater Manchester Police, but she said no further action was taken because they could not trace the number plate of the vehicle.

Ms Saleem said her family was still coming to terms with what happened to her father who was killed "simply because he was brown and dressed like a Muslim".

"The devastation of the death of our father is still overwhelming. Even today, it's hard for us to comprehend how someone could have such hatred for an 82-year-old man," she said.

Ukrainian student Lapshyn was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years for murder and terrorism related offences.