"He then yelled, 'no Merry Christmas', so I said 'ok, then he called me a "f---ing Muslim c--t." "I asked him what he said and I saw him grab a bottle so I quickly turned away and he threw it at me and it smashed on my shoulder and neck. "Imagine if I didn't turn around, it could have cut my face open". The 33-year-old said her headscarf came off during a scuffle, which the man dumped near the shopping complex. Despite the single mum being left shocked and traumatised by the incident, she decided to follow him as she was calling the police.

She said the man then started hurling sticks and rocks at her. "I was screaming on the phone to triple-zero because I thought this guy could kill me," she said. "I was running into oncoming traffic to get away from this guy because he was threatening to punch me in the face. "I have been racially abused in the past because of my religion but this is by far worse". The woman went back to the shopping centre and waited for the police to arrive.

She waited for an hour and rang police again who allegedly told her there was no log of her triple-zero call. She was then told officers were busy and wouldn't be able to attend to her until the morning. The woman said police eventually came to her house around 1am to get a statement. "What would have happened if I was a teenage girl or a young woman who couldn't defend themselves?," she said. "I am really rattled and shocked and am seriously thinking of moving into my parents' house for a while."

The woman reported the incident to the Islamophobia Register Australia and the Register's President, Mariam Veiszadeh, told WAtoday it was one of the "worst attacks" she had heard of. "I spoke to the victim last night and it's obviously been very traumatic for her," she said. "Unfortunately after incidents it injects a lot of fear into people, so we want the perpetrator caught as quickly as possible." The prominent lawyer and Daily Life 2016 Woman of the Year said she was hoping the shopping centre would release any CCTV footage. "I understand the woman and her friend asked management for the CCTV footage but were denied," she said.

"We are really keen to investigate the footage so we can get to the bottom of what happened." Cockburn Police are investigating the assault and are appealing for anyone with information about the incident to contact Crime Stoppers Loading The man is described as light skinned, 25-35 years old, 175-180 centimetres tall and slim build. He is believed to have short blonde and was wearing blue shorts and a white top. - With AAP