‘Take your f****** coronavirus back home’: Woman knocked unconscious during racist attack on friend

Meera Solanki knocked unconscious by stranger after defending Chinese friend from virus abuse

Police have released images of a man who knocked a woman unconscious as she defended her Chinese friend from abuse about coronavirus.

The assault took place while Meera Solanki was out in Birmingham celebrating her 29^th birthday.

But while she was enjoying the night out, her friend Mandy Huang was verbally abused by a stranger, who shouted “take your f***ing coronavirus back home”.

When Ms Solanki tried to get between the aggressive man and her friend, she was punched in the face by the attacker and knocked unconscious.

Detectives from West Midlands Police have now released CCTV images of a man they want to trace in connection with the incident.

“The attacker is described as Asian, 5ft 8ins tall, of large build and was wearing a flat cap and hoodie at the time,” a spokesperson for the force said.

The racist assault took place about 2am on 9 February in Frederick Street, in the Hockley neighbourhood of Birmingham.

Ms Solanki, a trainee solicitor, said the Asian man had repeatedly harassed them throughout the night at the bar before he began abusing Ms Huang.

“I was having birthday drinks with a group of girls and guys including Chinese friends,” she said.

“There were a group of Asian men inside the venue – one of them kept coming up to me and harassing me.

“Towards the end of the night – there was just the three of us girls left including my Chinese friend Mandy.

“The man came over again and was being aggressive so we left but he followed us. He started abusing her, calling her a dirty c***.

“He said “take your f** Coronavirus and take it back home. I was shocked and angry so I shouted for him to stop and tried to push him away.

“He punched me in the head, I hit the pavement and was knocked unconscious.”

The 29-year-old was taken to hospital after the assault and spent six hours being treated for concussion. She was unable to go back to work for another week.

West Midlands Police said anyone who recognised the man in the CCTV images should contact the force.

There have also been reports of racist coronavirus-related attacks on people of east Asian descent elsewhere in Britain in recent weeks, including in London, Southampton, Newcastle, Sheffield and Manchester.

In one incident, a Singaporean student was beaten up in central London by men who shouted “I don’t want your coronavirus in my country”.

A poll by Ipsos Mori found 14 per cent of Britons would “avoid contact with people of Chinese origin and appearance”, while some restaurants in London’s famous Chinatown district have reported significant falls in customer numbers since the coronavirus outbreak began.