Women break Asian teenage girl's arm in racist attack at London KFC
Attack comes amid rise in hate crime following Brexit referendum and terror attacks
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Police are hunting for two women who broke a teenage girl’s arm in a racist attack in London.
The 15-year-old victim, of Asian appearance, was eating with friends in a branch of KFC in Waltham Forest when the pair threw food at her.
When the girl turned around to speak to them, they began hurling racial abuse, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said.
“The older of the two women then pulled the victim’s hair causing her to fall to the floor. Both suspects kicked the victim whilst she was on the ground," the spokesperson said.
“As the victim stood up, a hot drink was thrown at her face.”
Police were called at around 8.30pm on 6 November and paramedics took the victim to hospital to treat her for a broken arm suffered in the assault.
Investigators have released CCTV images of two women they want to speak in relation to the assault.
They believe one suspect in her 50s and the other is in her early to mid-20s, and that they could be mother and daughter.
Detective Constable Rosie Doyle said: “This was an unprovoked and vicious attack which has left the victim very shaken and with a serious injury. If you recognise the women in these pictures, we would urge you to get in touch.
“We do not tolerate hate crime of any form and encourage victims and witnesses to come forward and report such incidents to the police."
The attack came amid a rise in hate crime recorded by police in the wake of the EU referendum and the terror attacks in Westminster, Manchester, London Bridge and Finsbury Park.
Data from police forces across England and Wales showed there were almost 80,400 hate crimes recorded in the 2016/17 financial year - a 29 per cent rise from the previous year and the largest annual increase since records began.
The largest type of offences recorded were aggravated by race or religion, with others targeting victims because of their nationality, sexuality, disability or other factors.
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, tweet at @MetCC or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.