Police are investigating the men who handed 'fat-shaming' cards to women on the London Underground calling them 'ugly'
The police are investigating a group of men on the London Underground who are allegedly handing women cards telling them that they are "fat" and "ugly."
The cards, handed out by a group calling themselves Overweight Haters Ltd, were first reported on Twitter on Monday afternoon, when Kara Florish, a 30-year-old who lives in Southend, posted a picture of the card she was given.
In it, overweight people are blamed for using up an "enormous amount of food resources" and told that they are worse than pigs, which are described as "[sic] beatiful".
Florish said in a Facebook post that she was not offended, but that the cards could cause huge offence to others. "I am not upset myself," she explained. "I am smaller than the national average and not exactly obese, but this is hateful and cowardly and could potentially upset people struggling with confidence and eating disorders."
At first it wasn't known if the cards were real, but after another Twitter user, Sean Thomas Knox, reported seeing a woman handed one of the cards while on an underground train at Oxford Circus station, before a man then jumped off the train before it departed.
British Transport Police said in a tweet on Monday afternoon they were "aware" of the cards, and encouraged anyone given one to contact them. It hasn't been confirmed if handing out the cards, or anything on them is actually illegal.
While it seems that the cards are real, it is not known how many have actually been given out. A Twitter search shows that other than the reports from Florish and Knox, no one else has mentioned being handed a card. Considering that Florish's original tweet has been so widely shared, it might be expected that more people would have reported being given a card if they are being widely distributed.
Regardless of how legitimate the cards from Overweight Haters Ltd are, and how many they've given out, Twitter users were quick to condemn the "fat shamers," and some of the tweets were pretty funny.
Business Insider will update this story as and when we get more information about the alleged fat shamers.