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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sean McPolin

Family 'too scared to leave house' after years of racist abuse from nightmare neighbour

A family has been left too scared to leave their home after two years of harassment from a nightmare neighbour.

The Khans, from Coventry, have had to put up with taunting, stalking and alleged racist abuse since lockdown started in 2020.

CCTV footage captured a woman in her 50s, alleged to be the perpetrator, shouting abuse at the family and mimicking Mrs Khan accent outside her home.

Speaking to CoventryLive, the 44-year-old said: “Suddenly during lockdown, she started parking towards our driveway and she used to stare at us.

"I told my husband something was not right, why was she behaving so weirdly?

"But my husband said it was probably nothing, maybe a misunderstanding.”

The unnamed ex-neighbour, in her 50s, allegedly told the Coventry family to 'go back to their own country' (coventrytelegraph.net)

Mrs Khan claims that she was told to "go back to her country" and dirty looks soon changed to verbal insults.

She added: “She came out and started swearing at me, saying: 'You Indian, you have got a thick accent, go back to your country.'”

“I started recording her from then. She started targeting our children, we came back from shopping one day and she was showing the middle finger, for 30 to 40 seconds flicking it up and down.”

Mrs Khan explained that she then began to record the erratic behaviour of her next-door neighbour and report the incidents to police who say they are progressing the matter to Force CID.

Around a year ago the nightmare neighbour moved elsewhere in Coventry, but allegedly still comes back to her former street to torment the family.

More footage shows the mystery woman standing out the family's home seemingly recording their house and car.

A vile note calling the family 'dirty' and 'smelly' was posted through their door (coventrytelegraph.net)

A vehicle, which matches the description of the vehicle owned by the woman, has also been spotted driving past the property late at night and honking its horn.

Mrs Khan said she has also received a hateful card filled with horrible messages.

She said she "really does not know why" her family, is being targeted by their former neighbour.

But has said that the abuse has taken an emotional toll on both herself and her family.

Mrs Khan said: “It is mentally affecting us. It has started affecting my husband and his health.

"I started taking anti-depressants and became dependent on them.

"I am scared to go out of my house because of the way she screams and humiliates us in public.

"We are so sick and tired of this."

The Khans have reported numerous incidents of a car, believed to belong to their former neighbour, driving past the house and beeping their horn late at night (coventrytelegraph.net)

The traumatised mother explained her daughter, 14, refused to go to school on Friday, May 20, after the ex-neighbour allegedly screamed abuse at her and calling her a "f****** b****".

“I took a day off work that day because my daughter was so disturbed mentally that she did not want to go to school," Mrs Khan said.

"I had to call them and explain why she missed her physics exam.”

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “We are looking into reports of harassment against a woman in Coventry.

"Officers from the Bell Green Neighbourhood team have visited the woman and are continuing to support her.

“Officers issued a community protection notice against the suspect, a woman in her 50s.

"While a number of measures have been implemented on a local level, the matter is being progressed to Force CID who will be in touch with the woman.

“We take all allegations of harassment incredibly seriously, and we are committed to ensuring the safety of members of our community.

"We always encourage people to report crimes to us and we will follow all reasonable lines of enquiries to provide a proportionate response.”

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