Muslim family's trauma over body defiled at mortuary

The family of a Muslim woman whose body was defiled with bacon in a hospital mortuary appealed yesterday for help in finding the culprit.

Habiba Mohammed, 65, who was of African origin, died of cancer at Hillingdon hospital in west London on 17 January. When her family, who live in Hayes, Middlesex, went to pay their respects the following day, they were told that bacon rashers had been placed in intimate areas beneath Mrs Mohammed's shroud.

Islam bans Muslims from eating pork, and even contact with the meat is regarded as taboo. Police are treating the crime as racially motivated.

Mrs Mohammed's daughter said yesterday that the incident was "evil". She added: "I witnessed her passing away and then for me to witness that again, it's traumatic. I feel emotionally raped."

A £5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible has been offered jointly by the police and the hospital.

But the family have complained about the police handling of the case. They believe the police are not taking it seriously enough and have asked the Police Complaints Authority to investigate. The woman's grandson, Ahmed, said: "Their attitude was mundane. They have dragged their feet. They still haven't taken statements from the family."

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said it feared that the attack was among a growing number of Islamaphobic assaults. Inayat Bunglawala, an MCB spokesman, said incidents of desecration of graveyards and the dead were reminiscent of the persecution of Jews in Germany in the 1930s. Mr Bunglawala said: "There has been a significant increase in the numbers of attacks on Muslims after 11 September, and in the lead-up to the second Gulf War this year. We are extremely anxious over these race-hate incidents. We are pushing the community to report them as we fear many are suffering silently."

Amir Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic Educational and Cultural Society, in Hayes, said the defiling of Mrs Mohammed's body was a "vile act", irrespective of religious affiliations. "It does not really matter that this was a Muslim, for a corpse to be violated in this way is extremely offensive to anyone. We have worked very hard within the community and with the police to establish very good public relations and this has set us back years."

Scotland Yard has interviewed more than 40 hospital staff and a race crimes task force is due to begin a second investigation next week.

The hospital, which has expressed sympathy for the family, said that the morgue had sufficient security to prevent the public wandering in. Hospital staff were sent a message asking for urgent help with police inquiries.

David McVittie, chief executive of Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust, said everything was being done to capture the culprit. "I am shocked and outraged that such a thing has happened and will not rest until we have found the perpetrator of this crime," he said.

Imran Khan, the family's solicitor, said the offence was "incredibly hurtful to the family and very provocative towards the Muslim community", especially in the context of the war on Iraq.