AFP, Ottawa :
An 11-year-old girl was assaulted in Toronto Friday by a man who twice tried to cut off her hijab with scissors and then fled, police said.
The girl told reporters that she was walking to school with her younger brother when the man came at her with scissors.
“He tried cutting (off) my hijab two times,” she said. “I felt really scared and confused. I didn’t feel comfortable that people are doing this.” Police described the assailant as an Asian male wearing a black hoodie and glasses. He was said to be about 20, nearly six feet tall and with a medium build.
Authorities are investigating the incident, which occurred at about 9 am (1400 GMT) near the Pauline Johnson school in Toronto’s east side, police spokeswoman Katrina Arrogante told AFP. Constable Jenifferjit Sidhu told a press conference that Noman had turned and confronted her assailant, making loud noises to scare him off and then she ran away with her little brother in tow. Afterward, according to Sidhu, the girl noticed a 12-inch cut from the bottom up on the back of her hijab.
She and her brother joined a group of other students also walking to school, for safety, but the siblings became separated from the group and from each other at an intersection crossing.
An 11-year-old girl was assaulted in Toronto Friday by a man who twice tried to cut off her hijab with scissors and then fled, police said.
The girl told reporters that she was walking to school with her younger brother when the man came at her with scissors.
“He tried cutting (off) my hijab two times,” she said. “I felt really scared and confused. I didn’t feel comfortable that people are doing this.” Police described the assailant as an Asian male wearing a black hoodie and glasses. He was said to be about 20, nearly six feet tall and with a medium build.
Authorities are investigating the incident, which occurred at about 9 am (1400 GMT) near the Pauline Johnson school in Toronto’s east side, police spokeswoman Katrina Arrogante told AFP. Constable Jenifferjit Sidhu told a press conference that Noman had turned and confronted her assailant, making loud noises to scare him off and then she ran away with her little brother in tow. Afterward, according to Sidhu, the girl noticed a 12-inch cut from the bottom up on the back of her hijab.
She and her brother joined a group of other students also walking to school, for safety, but the siblings became separated from the group and from each other at an intersection crossing.
