LONDON: A hate crime investigation has been launched by police after a Sikh holy textual content was discovered broken outdoors a residential handle in Leeds, northern England.
West Yorkshire Police mentioned it obtained the report of the incident from a member of the native Sikh group on Sunday. The incident occurred within the Headingley space of the town on July 12.
It was initially thought the broken items of the holy textual content had been put within the sufferer’s bin by an unknown suspect after it had been put out for refuse assortment on July 11. However this has been discounted after officers visited the sufferer this week to get a fuller account.
“Any crime similar to this which is perceived by the sufferer or some other particular person as being motivated by hostility or prejudice to their race or faith is handled as a hate crime, and we deal with all incidents of this nature very severely,” mentioned chief superintendent Steve Dodds, Leeds District Commander for West Yorkshire Police.
“It’s fully unacceptable for somebody to intentionally harm a holy textual content with the goal of inflicting offence to the sufferer as a member of the Sikh group. We’ve got launched a felony investigation led by detectives from Leeds District CID who’re finishing up in depth enquiries to determine the total circumstances of this incident and to determine who’s accountable,” he mentioned.
Dodds mentioned the police drive appreciates that the incident has induced comprehensible concern within the native Sikh group and past.
“We’re working carefully with key group representatives to reassure them and hold them up to date as we progress our investigation. Officers from our native neighbourhood policing groups and different well-established group engagement officers may also be supporting our work to reassure the group following this incident,” he mentioned.
The police, which is interesting for anybody with info to come back ahead, mentioned a criminal offense has been recorded for racially or religiously aggravated felony harm and enquiries are ongoing to determine the total circumstances of the incident, together with how the broken textual content got here to be left the place it was found on St Anne’s Street.
West Yorkshire Police mentioned it obtained the report of the incident from a member of the native Sikh group on Sunday. The incident occurred within the Headingley space of the town on July 12.
It was initially thought the broken items of the holy textual content had been put within the sufferer’s bin by an unknown suspect after it had been put out for refuse assortment on July 11. However this has been discounted after officers visited the sufferer this week to get a fuller account.
“Any crime similar to this which is perceived by the sufferer or some other particular person as being motivated by hostility or prejudice to their race or faith is handled as a hate crime, and we deal with all incidents of this nature very severely,” mentioned chief superintendent Steve Dodds, Leeds District Commander for West Yorkshire Police.
“It’s fully unacceptable for somebody to intentionally harm a holy textual content with the goal of inflicting offence to the sufferer as a member of the Sikh group. We’ve got launched a felony investigation led by detectives from Leeds District CID who’re finishing up in depth enquiries to determine the total circumstances of this incident and to determine who’s accountable,” he mentioned.
Dodds mentioned the police drive appreciates that the incident has induced comprehensible concern within the native Sikh group and past.
“We’re working carefully with key group representatives to reassure them and hold them up to date as we progress our investigation. Officers from our native neighbourhood policing groups and different well-established group engagement officers may also be supporting our work to reassure the group following this incident,” he mentioned.
The police, which is interesting for anybody with info to come back ahead, mentioned a criminal offense has been recorded for racially or religiously aggravated felony harm and enquiries are ongoing to determine the total circumstances of the incident, together with how the broken textual content got here to be left the place it was found on St Anne’s Street.
