FAMILY SPEAK OUT OVER RACISM TERROR
AN INDIAN woman this week spoke out against the racist yobs who have made her life hell for the past eighteen months.
Wanting only to be known as Mrs Abraham, the mother-of-one said she and her family have been subjected to nine hate-fuelled attacks at her Rushpark home in the last year and a half.
In an exclusive interview with the Times, the young mother told how she and her husband watched helplessly as their house was attacked by a gang of masked youths. The Abrahams have had racist graffiti, carrying the slogan 'FAP', daubed on their door. And several windows have been smashed at their home, as thugs try to intimidate them from the quiet residential area.
"For one year we haven't slept properly," she said. "We are very friendly with everybody but it is getting to the point were I won't send my son outside to play for fear of attack."
In the early hours of Sunday morning (March 22) their front window was smashed. For Mrs Abraham, this latest incident was the final straw, forcing her to go public on the sustained campaign at their home.
She added: "The attacks have been happening for the last year and a half. On one occasion a crowd of up to seven youths, covering their faces, tried to break the door down. We were very frightened and we thought they were going to kill us.
"We can't tolerate this. In India we have never seen anything like this."
Mrs Abraham, who has lived in her current house for three years, said the people who are carrying out the attacks are spoiling her family's lives.
"My husband won't go outside very often and he's under pressure. I'm afraid to go to the shops and to let my child outside to play. We want this to stop.
"I see everybody as human," she added. "For me, there is no difference whether you are black, white or Asian."
Kathy Wolff, of the Community Relations Forum, has been offering advice and support to the Abrahams.
"I feel ashamed to come from Newtownabbey when I see what's happening to this family," she said. "Community groups and community leaders don't want to see this happening. Someone must know who is doing this."
Philip Hamilton, a PUP representative in the nearby Rathcoole estate, said: "Enough is enough. We all need to stand up and say that we are not prepared to accept this. I would appeal to the people who are engaging in this activity to stop it now, and to anyone with information to bring it to the police."
Police have confirmed they are investigating reports of hate crime in the area. A PSNI spokeswoman said: "Police believe this is the latest in a series of attacks on this property."
Inspector Alan McKeown, the local Neighbourhood Inspector, said: "Police take hate crime seriously and actively investigate all incidents reported to them. I want to reassure members of the community that we are committed to preventing hate crime but need help and support of the community to be successful.
"Hate crime is wrong and none of us want to live in a community or society, which tolerates sectarianism, racism, homophobic or religious bigotry, and far less, attacking the disabled."
Newtownabbey District Policing Partnership chair, Etta Mann, said: "This family offend no one and go about their business in a quiet and dignified way. They are good neighbours and respected in the community and do not deserve to be treated and traumatised in this way."
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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