Muslim woman assaulted, called 'terrorist' in Toronto

Canadian police says attack appears to have been 'motivated by hate'

A Muslim woman was assaulted and mugged on Monday as she was heading to pick up her son from school in Canada, with police now confirming the attack appears to have been “motivated by hate.”

“It was a completely unprovoked attack,” said Constable Victor Kwong. “She was punched all over and kicked.”



The two men started hurling anti-Islamic and racist slurs at her. "You terrorist you don't belong here," one of the men yelled, according to 680News reporter Momin Qureshi.

Attackers yelled obscenities at Muslim women as they beat her. "You terrorist, you don't belong here. You piece of Sh*!@, go back home"

— Momin Qureshi (@MominYQureshi) November 17, 2015

One of the men punched the woman in the stomach and a second tried to rip off her hijab.

“There’s no doubt that this is hate-motivated,” Kwong said. Further, the officer claimed events such as the deadly Paris attacks lead to a spike in such incidents.

She was robbed of her cellphone and some money, he said.



Canadian politician and the premier Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, said Canadians need to guard against racism.

“This is actually a time we need to reach out to our Muslim neighbours and friends and recognise the acts that took place in Paris were acts of terrorism and not borne of religion,” said Wynne.

Toronto mayor John Tory also denounced the attack. Tory said the attack is “disgusting, unacceptable and not reflective of our city’s values”.

The assault came two days after a mosque in Ontario, was set on fire.



The attacks came in the aftermath of deadly attacks in Paris which left at least 129 people dead and were claimed by the Islamic State.

This article originally appeared on The Guardian.