Calls for more support for hate crime victims after rise in West Midlands
A woman who was beaten unconscious after defending a Chinese friend from racist abuse has called for more to be done to tackle hate crime.
Meera Solanki was attacked in Birmingham after confronting a man who told her friend to "f*** off, take your coronavirus and go back home".
Now she has called for more support to be given to victims of hate crime following the incident in February – allowing them to come forward.
It comes as figures show hate crime in the West Midlands shot up by almost 20 per cent, with an average of 18 cases being reported each day to police.
Police in the region logged a total of 6,716 offences regarding race, religion, disability, transgender identity and sexual orientation in 2019/2020.
The latest Home Office figures, between April last year and March this year, marks a rise of 17.5 per cent rise from the 5,715 offences in 2018/2019.
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Ms Solanki shared her experience at a meeting on the issue chaired by Tory Police and Crime Commissioner candidate Jay Singh-Sohal.
She said: "This guy followed us and started screaming at my friend who happened to be Chinese and this is back in February.
"I tried to ask him to go and pushed him away and next thing I had fallen to the ground and my friends said I had been punched in the head.
"I had no idea what had happened and I was told he continued shouting at my friend before he walked away with his friends."
Ms Solanki said she was later informed by police that they were not going to proceed with the case, which she said she found "upsetting".
And it led her to call for more support to be handed to the victims – as well as an overhaul of how police handle complaints.
'Failing'
Hate crimes motivated by race – the highest number of offences recorded by the force – shot up 16 per cent to 5,583 from 4,811 last year.
Offences motivated by sexual orientation increased by almost two-thirds to 755, while crimes motivated by transgender identity increased by a quarter to 90.
Hate crimes regarding disability increased by nearly 40 per cent to 182, with offences over religion increasing two per cent to 302, Home Office figures show.
Conservative PCC candidate Jay Singh-Sohal, who held a virtual meeting on the issue, said the figures showed the current police approach "was failing".
Nicola Richards MP, who represents West Bromwich West, said there needed to be more education about the issue – and urged people to report any hate crime.
She said: "Too many hate crime incidents go unreported, with people either frightened to speak out or lacking the confidence that they will receive a suitable and effective police response.
"When such appalling crimes are reported, they need to be taken seriously and offenders brought to justice so that everyone understands that hatred and bigotry is completely unacceptable in our diverse and inclusive region. "
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson added: "Hate crime has long been something which has been underreported, due to the fear of victims who think their voices will not be heard.
"This is one of the reasons I have worked closely with the West Midlands Mayor Andy Street on encouraging people to increase reporting of hate crime, in all places but with a particular focus on public transport, where we have seen some nasty hate incidents again recently. We have a zero tolerance approach to hate crime in the West Midlands and want more people to come forward and report it.
"It doesn’t matter the colour of your skin, your gender identity, what you believe in, who you love, whether you have a disability – there is never an excuse for hate crime.
"We have a range of measures in place to report hate crime, not least the 101 and 999 phone numbers."
