Nepalese sisters subjected to racist abuse outside Primark in Maidstone
Published: 14:52, 22 March 2023
Updated: 10:36, 29 March 2023
A video of Asian girls being verbally abused and called "ching ching" in a town centre has gone viral.
The video shows a group of young people outside Primark in Week Street, Maidstone, surrounding the duo and recording them.
One girl, who is at the front, swearing, pulls her eyes at the sides and shouts "ching ching chong" at the Nepalese girls.
While a crowd forms and shoppers in the busy town centre look on, the girl adds: "You're as black as my ****."
Musician and victim Kanti Gurung, whose father was a Gurkha, described the incident as "horrible".
"The girls were racist to us and shouted 'ching ching' at us and told us to go back to our country," the 23-year-old explained.
"My sister and I were walking in town and they started shouting 'that's the girl we were meant to beat up' and pointed to my sister.
"I defended her and that's how things escalated."
Describing the incident, she added: "This is racism. Kent is becoming one of the most diverse counties yet we have to face this kind of racism?
"We have every right to be here and we are British.
"To have that said to us, while no one helped and everyone stood around gawking at us and filming, was just horrible."
A police spokesman said: "Police are investing an incident in Week Steet, Maidstone at around 5.20pm on Saturday, March 18, when it is alleged a person was subjected to racist abuse.
"Officers are in contact with the victim and are carrying out further inquiries. No arrests have been made."
Anyone with information should call Kent Police on 01622 604100, quoting reference 46/50031/23.
It is the latest incident in the infamous street, which has been described as "lawless" in recent years.
In January, a 12-year-old girl was attacked outside Poundland. While in September, another young group of children were caught on camera verbally abusing staff and customers at McDonald's.
Both incidents were watched by passing onlookers and subsequently investigated by police.
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Sean McPolin