Toronto girl says man cut her hijab
TORONTO • An 11- year- old Toronto girl said a scissors-wielding man came up behind her and cut her hijab repeatedly as she walked to school Friday, describing the incident as one that left her terrified and confused.
Toronto police said they were looking for a suspect and investigating the matter as a hate crime, while the prime minister and Ontario’s premier said this did not reflect who Canadians are.
The incident took place in east Toronto, as Khawlah Noman, a Grade 6 student, was walking to Pauline Johnson Junior Public School with her younger brother.
The girl said a man came up behind her, pulled off her jacket hood, and started cutting the bottom of her hijab.
“I turned around and I saw him with his scissors,” Khawlah said. “I screamed.”
The man ran off, Khawlah said, noting that she crossed the street with her brother to join other students walking to school.
But a short time later, the man approached her from behind again and started cutting her hijab once more, she said. Khawlah said she turned around to confront him, but he smiled and ran off again.
“This is terrible and I do not like it,” she told reporters at her school hours after the incident. “I felt confused, scared, terrified.”
Khawlah — who appeared alongside her mother and her brother — said she is now afraid to walk to school, but was comforted by the support of her school and family.
“What you’re doing is really wrong, you should not act like this, and especially, I’m a kid,” she said, addressing her attacker directly at one point.
School staff reported the incident to police around 9:15 a.m., shortly after Khawlah told them what happened, Toronto police said, noting that they were searching for a suspect in his 20s.
The girl’s mother said she was angry someone would target a child, but was relieved her daughter was not physically harmed.
“I don’t know why he did that, but it’s just not Canada,” Saima Samad said. “I feel safe in this community, but this is not right and he should get help.”