Arrests after gay couple were ‘asked to kiss’ and attacked on London bus

Arrests have been made after a gay couple were left bloodied following an attack on a bus in London.

Melania Geymonat, 28, from Uruguay, and her American girlfriend Chris were on a night bus heading home to Camden, north London, on 30 May when a group of four men started to make lewd comments and asked them to kiss.

The women were then attacked and punched several times before the assailants ran off the bus.

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that arrests have been made, but gave no further details.

In a Facebook post, Ms Geymonat, who lives in Bishop’s Stortford in Essex, said the pair had been sitting on the top deck of a double-decker bus and there appeared to be no one else around when the incident happened.

“We must have kissed or something because these guys came after us,” she said.

“They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so they could enjoy watching, calling us ‘lesbians’ and describing sexual positions.

“In an attempt to calm things down, I started making jokes. I thought this might make them go away.

“Chris even pretended she was sick, but they kept on harassing us, throwing us coins and becoming more enthusiastic about it.”

Ms Geymonat said her girlfriend confronted the men and three of them began “beating her up”.

After trying to intervene, Ms Geymonat said she was also punched.

She said: “I got dizzy at the sight of my blood and fell back. I don’t remember whether or not I lost consciousness.

“Suddenly the bus had stopped, the police were there and I was bleeding all over.”

Both women suffered facial injuries and were taken to hospital, while Ms Geymonat added she may have broken her nose during the ordeal.

The attackers, who were in their 20s or 30s, also stole a phone and bag from the women.

Ms Geymonat said one of the men spoke Spanish and the others had British accents.

Prime Minister Theresa May called the incident a “sickening attack” and said her thoughts were with the couple.

She added: “Nobody should ever have to hide who they are or who they love and we must work together to eradicate unacceptable violence towards the LGBT community”.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan described the incident as a “disgusting, misogynistic attack” and said hate crimes against the LGBT+ community “will not be tolerated in London”.

In her social media post, Ms Geymonat said she was tired of hearing about gay friends being beaten up “just because”.

“We have to endure verbal harassment and chauvinist, misogynistic and homophobic violence,” she said.

Police have appealed for witnesses to come forward with information.

(c) Sky News 2019: Arrests after gay couple were ‘asked to kiss’ and attacked on London bus