A female Asian trainee lawyer was punched and knocked unconscious after she stepped in to defend her Chinese friend who was accused of carrying coronavirus in Birmingham on 9th February.
Meera Solanki, from Solihull, was out with friends celebrating her 29th birthday at Birmingham's Ana Rocha Bar and Gallery on Frederick Street.
She was inside the venue with her friends including Mandy Huang, 28, who was visiting from London, when the group were targeted by a group of Asian men.
The two friends left the bar after Miss Solanki said she was repeatedly harassed by one of the men who later followed the three women out of the venue at around 2am.
Speaking to the media Miss Solanki said: 'I was having birthday drinks with a group of of girls and guys including Chinese friends. There were a group of Asian men inside the venue - one of them kept coming up to me and harassing me.
“He seemed to have a problem with me being an Indian girl with a multi-racial group of friends,' she told The Sunday Mercury.
Miss Solanki added: 'We tried to ignore him, even when he tried to spit at one of my friends. Towards the end of the night - there was just the three of us girls left including my Chinese friend Mandy.
Miss Solanki told how she was 'shocked and angry' and shouted at the man to stop while she tried to push him away.
Reports said that an ambulance was called to the scene and a witness commented: 'What I saw was beyond despicable. A totally vicious assault.'
Miss Solanki spent six hours at Heartlands Hospital where she was treated with concussion and was off work for a week.
A member of a Birmingham based Anglo-Chinese group said yesterday paranoia surrounding the disease has led to unease and confrontation.
West Midlands Police have launched an appeal to find the thug responsible for the shocking violence. Reports of coronavirus violence has already surfaced in Newcastle, York and Manchester
