Police are calling for witnesses after two women were beaten and robbed in a homophobic attack on a London bus.
One of the victims, Melania Geymonat, posted a photo on Facebook of herself and her girlfriend, Chris, covered in blood, along with a detailed account of the assault in English and Spanish.
The incident happened in the early hours of on May 30 on a night bus in Camden, north London.
“As they sat on the top deck they were approached by a group of four males who began to make lewd and homophobic comments to them,” the police statement reads. “The women were then attacked and punched several times before the males ran off the bus. A phone and bag were stolen during the assault.”
“Both women were taken to hospital for treatment to facial injuries.”
Geymonat said on Facebook that at least four men started harassing her and her girlfriend when they saw them kissing on the upper deck of the bus.
“They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so they could enjoy watching, calling us ‘lesbians’ and describing sexual positions,” she wrote.
Geymonat said she started making jokes in an attempt to defuse the situation. But the men “kept on harassing us, throwing us coins and becoming more enthusiastic about it.”
“The next thing I know is that Chris is in the middle of the bus fighting with them,” Geymonat said. “On an impulse, I went over there only to find her face bleeding and three of them beating her up. The next thing I know is I’m being punched.”
“I got dizzy at the sight of my blood and fell back.”
Geymonat said she doesn’t remember whether she lost consciousness. Then the bus stopped and police arrived, she said.
“I don’t know yet if my nose is broken, and I haven’t been able to go back to work, but what upsets me the most is that VIOLENCE HAS BECOME A COMMON THING, that sometimes it’s necessary to see a woman bleeding after having been punched to feel some kind of impact,” she said.
“We have to endure verbal harassment AND CHAUVINIST, MISOGYNISTIC AND HOMOPHOBIC VIOLENCE because when you stand up for yourself s**t like this happens.”
CNN has contacted Geymonat for comment.
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, condemned the incident on Twitter, saying it was a “disgusting, misogynistic attack.”
“Hate crimes against the LGBT+ community will not be tolerated in London,” he added.