Missing Muslim teenage girl was humiliated and harassed in New York City subway

18-year old Yasmin Seweid has been missing since Wednesday when she was last seen leaving her home on Dec 1 at 8pm in New Hyde Park, Long Island.

She was clad in a black jacket, the hijab (head scarve), and yoga pants with blue sweater, according to police information. According to her Facebook post, she had been reportedly harassed around 10pm on Dec 1 on the 6 train that operates on the busy Lexington Avenue route.

Seweid claimed that a group of three men tore apart the straps off her bag and shouted: "Look, it's a f***ing terrorist". She was also told to "take that rag off your head". She was terrified and left the train, as they tried to forcibly remove the hijab from her head.

The Nassau County Police Department Missing Persons Squad has, meanwhile, put out an alert notice asking the public to contact it with information on the whereabouts of Yasmin Seweid.

Seweid, who was enrolled as a student at the Baruch College in Manhattan, has not been attending class since Dec 2, the New York Post reported. Seweid's Facebook post, which claims she was harassed by the three men at the 23rd Street subway station on Dec 1, has gone viral. She wrote she was called a "terrorist" and also told to "go back to your country" by the men who repeatedly mentioned President-elect Donald Trump's name.

Her Facebook post, which fetched over 2,700 reactions, described in detail the "traumatising" experience of having the straps ripped off her bag before they tried to pull the hijab off her head. "No matter how 'cultured' or 'Americanised' I am, these people don't see me as an American,' she wrote. But the teenaged girl was equally bitter about the other passengers who merely watched but did nothing to help her. "It breaks my heart that so many individuals chose to be bystanders while watching me get harassed verbally and physically by these disgusting pigs," she wrote. Police are still looking for the men who harassed her. Seweid's father formally reported her missing on Thursday with the Nassau County Police Department which has, meanwhile, opened an investigation. Neighbours of the Seweids said that they had noticed that the teenaged girl had been deeply affected by the incident on the train. One female neighbour told the NBC channel that she had felt terrible (about Seweid's harassment incident) and had offered her a bouquet of flowers to the young girl, saying that "she is a sweetheart".

Yasmin Seweid's post on Facebook on Dec 2:

"I initially was not planning on making a post about what happened yesterday, but you will probably be seeing stories about it on the news & in the newspaper tomorrow. I take the train every single day going to & coming from class, but yesterday, something happened that I never thought would happen to me. I was harassed on the subway last night and it was just so dehumanising I can't speak about it without getting emotional. Three white racists ripped the straps off my bag & attempted to yank my hijab off my head. They yelled such disgusting slurs at me, I was so helpless and felt defenseless. "Look it's a f***g terrorist", "go back to your country", "take that rag off your head", and so many more. Trump's name was repeatedly said & it finally clicked in my head. No matter how "cultured" or "Americanised" I am, these people don't see me as an American. It breaks my heart that so many individuals chose to be bystanders while watching me get harassed verbally and physically by these disgusting pigs. Trump America is real and I witnessed it first hand last night! What a traumatising night. Please stay safe everyone & never let anyone take your rights away. Just thought I should share that with you all tonight."

Racially-motivated attacks have risen in New York, a development which New York's mayor Bill de Blasio attributed, during a press conference on Monday, to Trump. The mayor, who had, in earlier incidents, condemned the rise in hate-crime cases across the city, urged Trump to take a proactive approach to discourage hate crimes. In New York City, hate crime incidents spiked 115 per cent since Election Day on Nov 8, with 43 cases reported compared with 20 cases in the same period in 2015, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. Bias against Muslims has doubled, with four cases reported since Election Day compared with two reported in the same time period last year.