In what has been described as a “hate crime” by police, the woman was approached by a man who repeatedly told her to remove her head scarf as she walked alone on Oxford Street, London.
When she refused the man became more aggressive and attempted to snatch the hijab, which is a religious covering of the head with the face visible, from her head.
The attacker managed to remove the pin of the headscarf, but did not succeed in fully removing it.
The woman, in her 40s, broke free and ran away from the man who made off in the direction of Marble Arch.
Detectives said the woman was not injured, but left shocked and distressed by the incident.
Scotland Yard said they are invesitgating the incident at 8.15am on Tuesday, October 4 as an Islamaphobic hate crime and appealed for witnesses.
Detective Sergeant Steve Stamp of Westminster’s Community Safety Unit said: “This was an unprovoked and hate filled attack in broad daylight in the middle of a busy street. The woman was targeted by this suspect purely based on what she was wearing.
“Racially and religiously motivated crimes will not be tolerated I would appeal to anyone who witnessed this attack to contact police.”
The suspect is described as a white man, aged between 30 to 40 with short, black greased hair.
He was of medium build and approximately 5ft 5ins tall. He was wearing light blue jeans and grey sweatshirt.
The attack comes after a woman, in her 20s, had her hijab ripped off her as she walked along Tottenham High Road, north London.
