Couple attack Muslim taxi driver in England as crowd looks on

A Muslim taxi driver was recently attacked by a couple in Derby, England.

On December 1, Shahid Iqbal, 50, was punched and bitten by the two passengers after he ejected them from his taxi for refusing to pay the £7 fare.

After Iqbal asked the passengers to step out of his taxi, the female passenger purportedly attempted to grab the steering wheel and began demanding 80 pounds for ‘children’.



She then bit him as he pulled over to prevent the driver from calling for help. A group of ‘very large' bystanders filmed him and sang while he was being attacked. The woman then reached forward and slapped Iqbal in the face as he moved to get out of the car.



As Iqbal tried to fight off the woman, her partner marched forward and punched him. The duo continued to pummel him in front of uncaring onlookers.

Iqbal, who has been a taxi driver for a decade, said he was sickened by the crowd that just stood there and watched him. “It seemed like the guy filming it was really enjoying it. He was singing and he even shows his face in the video, I couldn't believe it.” Iqbal said.

“That was the first time I was ever attacked on the job. It's made me frightened about who might be sitting behind me in my cab.” He added.

A freelance taxi driver for National Cars, Iqbal might leave his job because his family is scared of him being attacked again.



Disappointed with the investigation so far, Iqbal said he was lucky to escape with just bruises. “Luckily, I was just badly bruised but if they'd had a knife or a weapon that might have been it for me. The couple ran away before the police got there,” he said.

Speaking on the matter, Derbyshire Constabulary said it had detained and bailed a woman on suspicion of attempted robbery pending further investigations.

This article originally appeared on Daily Mail.