Canadian police search for attacker who cut 11-year-old schoolgirl’s hijab
Toronto police are investigating an attack on an 11-year-old girl whose hijab was repeatedly cut while she was on her way to school.
The attacker, in two attempts within 10 minutes, cut the girl’s head covering using scissors while she was walking with her brother on Friday, a Toronto police spokeswoman said.
“I felt confused, scared, terrified,” said Khawlah Noman, who is in Year 6. “I screamed. The man just ran away. We followed this crowd of people to be safe. He came again. He continued cutting my hijab.”
The Toronto district school board said it was shocked to hear about the assault, which Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne called a “cowardly act of hatred” that did not represent the province. Police did not have anyone in custody.
Canada is approaching the first anniversary of a shooting in a Quebec City mosque that killed six people while they were praying. A French-Canadian university student has been charged.
Last month, a Quebec judge suspended a law banning people from wearing niqabs and other face coverings while giving or receiving public services.
Researchers have documented an increase in far-right extremist activity in Canada, much of it targeting Muslims.
A survey conducted last year by Ontario’s Human Rights Commission found that more people had “very negative” feelings about Muslims than about any other group.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims has called on the federal government to declare January 29, the day of the mosque shooting, a day of remembrance and action on Islamophobia.
The government has not said whether it will do so.
The provincial premier called the assault on Khawlah a ‘cowardly act of hatred’ that did not represent Ontario