Adeel* was a successful academic who lived in the suburbs with his family, including young children, for over 5 years. Adeel’s family had never had any issues in his area and built amicable relationships with his neighbours.
On the day of Eid, Adeel decided to invite his friends over to his house for a BBQ in the garden. Adeel’s guests and children were enjoying themselves, eating food and catching up. During the BBQ, one of Adeel’s neighbours came out into their garden and began hurling Islamophobic abuse at Adeel in front of his friends and family. The neighbour was angry at Adeel for allowing his son to play football in the garden, at times kicking the ball against the fence. The neighbour stormed into his home, leaving Adeel embarrassed, and his family and guests shocked. Over the following weeks, Adeel’s children were too scared to play in the garden as they were left traumatised by the incident. There were also several other incidents of provocation and intimidation by Adeel’s neighbour.
Adeel contacted the IRU as he wanted to make his family feel more secure in their home. We helped Adeel submit a detailed report of his neighbour’s harassment to the police. As a result, the police served Adeel’s neighbour with a harassment notice and mediated a resolution whereby Adeel’s neighbour pledged to refrain from harassing him in the future. Now, Adeel’s children can play safely in their garden.