Raj Jeyaraj, the Student President of Strathclyde University in Scotland, has been subject to verbal abuse and threats of violence from anonymous members of the public via email.

Raj is Malaysian-born and is the first international student president at Strathclyde University. Since his election in June he has faced a bombardment of hate mail with regards to his race and the fact that he has a disability following a car crash in 2009.

The 25-year-old stated that: “They come from these anonymous email websites. They say I deserved to lose my arm, they want to cut off my other arm… It’s easy some times to say that haters are going to hate but there is denial about the extent of the problem.”

Despite the tirade of abuse Raj is adamant that he wants to continue in his position and raise awareness against racism and threatening behaviour towards other students.

A spokeswoman from Strathclyde University said: “The University has a zero tolerance to discrimination of any kind, including racism, and we do all in our power to deal with it head-on when it is brought to our attention, as well as supporting anyone who may experience discrimination.”

Bethany Bartley-Jeacock