Teenager subjected to Islamophobic abuse on Sydney bus, video goes viral

"Immigrant mutt … You don't deserve to be here," a stranger on a bus said to 13-year-old Janna last week, according to footage that has gone viral online.

Janna, who was wearing a hijab and her school uniform, was riding the bus back from school in Sydney when the incident occurred.

Warning: This story contains details that may be distressing for some readers.

"I kept telling him I was born here in Australia. I have never left," Janna told the ABC.

In a video recording seen by the ABC, the accused man can be heard calling Janna names, including a "c**k sucking f***ing animal", an "immigrant dog", "a f***ing terrorist" and "a piece of sh**".

Janna said she did not know who the man was, and kept reminding him of her young age, but said the derogatory comments continued.

According to Janna, the verbal abuse started after she saw the man taking photos of another young girl on the bus wearing a hijab, without her knowledge.

Janna stood up for the girl and told her what was happening, which she said then triggered the tirade caught on video.

A witness on the bus filmed the incident and uploaded it to her social media account with the caption: "I'm so f***ing scared."

The video has since gone viral with thousands of shares.

'Not the worst of them' Islamophobia attacks on the rise

In another video of the incident seen by the ABC, the man was seen arguing back and forth with another woman before saying: "I can't wait until they kill all of you", appearing to direct his comments to the Muslim women on the bus.

After the incident, Janna and her mother Roula filed a police report with NSW Police, who told the ABC that "inquiries into the incident are continuing".

Transport for NSW has been contacted for comment.

This case is part of a growing number of anti-Muslim incidents recorded by the Islamophobia Register Australia (IRA).

The Register said reported incidents had increased 612 per cent since October 2023, according to their research.

IRA's executive director, Aishah Ali, who was made aware of the Sydney bus incident after it was reported to the Register, said she was "beyond horrified".

"Janna's incident was not a salient one," Ms Ali said.

"We have reports like this that come in every other day. We have victims who are experiencing verbal abuse on a daily basis.

Women and children have increasingly become targets of anti-Muslim hate, Ms Ali said.

"Women have historically, through all of our documented research, disproportionately been affected by Islamophobia," she said.

Over 90 per cent of targets of Islamophobia are Muslim women, according to Ms Ali.

"These experiences are normalised by the public and are now also being normalised as part and parcel of just being a Muslim Australian," she said.

Intervention to tackle hate

Janna's mother Roula said she was "incredibly proud" of her daughter for standing up for the other girl.

"The way she responded, the way she respected her environment and her hijab. It shows her character.

Roula said she had taught her daughter to be vigilant about possible Islamophobia when Janna began wearing a hijab earlier this year.

"When she told me what happened, I told her, 'Janna, you're going to go through a lot of that as a hijabi'," she said.

Roula said she was horrified that her daughter had very little support from others on the bus.

"Nobody intervened — I was not expecting the passengers to intervene, but the bus driver should have stopped the bus," she said.

Ms Ali said bystander intervention was key to combating Islamophobia.

"It should never be on a 13-year-old to have to take up space in that sort of way and put them in a position of unsafety," she said.

"Especially where it's verbal abuse, and there's a young victim; it should never be on a young girl."