A shocked mum-of-two says she was racially abused by a group of brazen children on the Tube.
Sophia Choudry was travelling home alone when she says the racist slurs started.
The 47-year-old said she boarded the Elizabeth Line at Paddington and sat opposite four children when things turned nasty.
The business owner filmed the group “for evidence” but says other commuters blamed her for filming the children.
In the 10-second video, the P word was repeated over and over again.
“It was awful and I felt so alone,” Sophia, of Maidenhead, Berks, told Need to Know.
“I’d had such a lovely evening and was attacked for just being me.
“I just wanted to get the Tube and get home.
“I wasn’t harming anyone.
“I was listening to music with my headphones on.
“At first, I thought I’d imagined it but it got louder and louder.
“When I took my headphones off, I could hear them shouting the P word over and over again.
“The laughter, the brazenness and the complete lack of respect.
“I looked around and nobody reacted so I knew I was on my own.
“I couldn’t believe it was really happening.
“When I warned them I’d call the police, they tried to get off but the doors had already closed.”
Sophia says she pressed the emergency button and the Tube came to a brief stop but set off again before anyone had been to check on her on Sunday (7 Sept).
She claims other passengers turned on her over the delay, leaving her feeling “utterly alone.”
Sophia claims: “One man asked why I was calling the police and I said it was because they were being racist.
“He said ‘so what?’.
“Another said that they’re just kids.
“The kids weren’t bothered at all.
“I thought filming them would deter them but they couldn’t care less.
“They were all saying ‘it wasn’t me’.
She claims: “I couldn’t believe the conversation I was having.
“It’s not right. Why didn’t anyone help me?
“Instead they said I was in the wrong. That hurt me the most.
“If I was in their shoes, I wouldn’t hesitate to help.
“It’s one thing if people don’t want to get involved but to excuse racism and turn the blame onto me is another.
“I felt utterly alone.
“The train started moving and nobody came to check on me.”
Sophia says the police asked her to get off the Tube at Hayes and Harlington where she’d be met by officers.
She claims the police didn’t arrive.
Sophia said: “It triggered memories of my childhood in Sunderland where I was the only brown girl in school aged six to sixteen.
“As a child, I was devastated and I’ve spent 25 years trying to move past that pain.
“To hear that word in London, a city that prides itself on diversity, was heartbreaking.
“Nobody deserves this.
“I’m just trying to live my life.
“All I want is to raise awareness.
“They aren’t just words. They carry pain, history and trauma.
“If racism is excused, it doesn’t disappear, it’s passed on to the next generation.
“We can’t keep dismissing it as kids being kids because every time we do, we give it permission to grow.”
A British Transport Police spokesperson said: “Officers received a report around 8pm on 8th Sept that a woman had been racially abused by a group of children on an Elizabeth Line train.
“They are reported to have left the train at Hayes and Harlington station.
“Officers made a number of attempts to contact the victim and they do not currently want to make a formal statement to police regarding the matter at this time.
“Officers take all reports of hate crime seriously and would encourage anyone who witnesses or experiences this sort of behaviour to report it to us by texting 61016.”.
A Transport for London spokesperson added: “We are deeply sorry that this passenger has experienced this on our network.
“No one should ever have to fear or experience abuse and harassment when using our network and TfL takes a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of abuse and hate crime.
“We are urgently investigating the circumstances of this incident and continuing to work closely with British Transport Police.”
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