A female sport trainer in Britain has received death threats and other racist and abusive messages after she initiating a fitness class for Muslim women.
The state-funded BBC reported Wednesday that Bianca Jade, a non-Muslim fitness coach, had been threatened to death after she put up posters for her Muslim women fitness class showing a woman in a hijab holding a pair of weights.
The 30-year-old Jade, from Nottingham in central England, said she had notified the police about racist slurs and messages she received telling her to “watch her back.”
“I've had messages calling me racist names… telling me to go back to my own country, telling me to watch my back… saying they're going to kill me,” she said, adding, “It makes me feel paranoid… I'm always looking behind me.”
Jade has said non-Muslim women were welcome to join the fitness class, which she said is meant to allow Muslim women to “get fit in a comfortable environment”.
Nottinghamshire Police said they were investigating the threats which they branded “utterly disgraceful” and “shocking”.
Chief Inspector Suk Verma said the “unacceptable” abuse portrayed a “sad element of society where hate is prevalent”.
“She's providing a service to a specific part of the community, but she said anyone is welcome,” said the police commander.
Hate behavior against Muslims have significantly increased in the UK, a country home to close to three million members of the religious community. Experts believe segments of the British media and some politicians have spurred hate crimes against Muslims by trying to pander to the far-right and extremist groups.