Muslim woman attacked by American hurling religious slurs

A $5,000 reward is being offered to help catch the suspect

HOUSTON, TX, US: A hijab-wearing Muslim woman was attacked by a man in Houston, who slashed her with a knife while yelling anti-Muslim slurs.

The Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston) reported that the 25-year-old woman was attacked on Thursday morning.

The woman was profiled as being white and was wearing a head scarf when her car was hit by a red SUV in northwest Harris County. The woman then pulled over and got off her car to inspect the damage. A moment later, the vehicle that hit her made a U-turn and pulled up behind her.



According to reports, the driver stepped out of his SUV and began shouting obscenities,racial and religious slurs.

The victim believes the anger and rage hurled at her was because of her headscarf.

"She said a driver nearly sideswiped her," said Sobia Siddiqui, with the Houston office of the Council on American Islamic Relations. "She thought it was road rage."

The victim tried to defend herself by getting in the car but the passenger door was locked. Looking at her desperate attempts to save herself, the attacker began waving the knife in her face and then jammed the handle of the knife on her shoulder and arms.

Another man who had been sitting in the same SUV, got out and tried to stop the attacker but it was after she had already been hit in the arm. The man convinced the attacker to get back in the car and they both fled from the scene.



The victim drove herself back to the hospital, which was also her workplace and received treatment for her injury.

The attacker and his accomplice were described as white males, between the age of 20-35 years.

"We hope that anyone who has information about this potentially deadly and apparently bias-motivated attack will immediately contact law enforcement authorities," said CAIR-Houston Executive Director Mustafaa Carroll.

Officers of the Harris County Sheriff's Office are investigating the case.

This article originally appeared on ABC13.