An Indian-origin digital marketing consultant today said he was attacked five days after Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU) on June 23.
Keshav Kapoor, 26, born in the UK to Indian parents and grew up in Hounslow, west London, was visiting his grandmother in nearby Hayes area when he was targeted by a man who kicked the back of his legs.
"It seemed like a visceral reaction to what had happened over that weekend - it was just after Brexit. I knew this kind of thing was going to happen. I expected to read about it but I never expected that it would happen to me," he told Evening Standard.
Brexit has been blamed for a massive rise in so-called race hate crimes due to the heightened anti-immigrant rhetoric during the campaign.
Mr Kapoor's story comes on the day UK Home Office released latest figures which said a 41 per cent hike in such attacks in the aftermath of the referendum.
"It felt like a spike after Brexit. I have a friend who is from Nigeria and was living in London at time. On June 29, he was at a bus stop in London with two Muslim girls and someone threw an egg at them. He is back in Nigeria now. It was the final nail in the coffin for him," said Mr Kapoor, who had reported his own attack to Scotland Yard soon after.
In June, the UK voted to leave the 28-nation bloc European Union after 43 years.