Toronto police are treating an attack on a Muslim woman Monday as a possible hate crime. The woman was picking up her children from a North York school when she was attacked from behind and beaten by two males.
The incident took place near Grenoble Public School in the Flemingdon Park area, near the intersection of Don Mills and Eglinton Avenue East. According to police, the attackers pulled the woman’s hijab, and also stole her money and cellphone.
“The victim was picking up her children in the area of Grenoble Public School and she was attacked by two males,” Staff Sgt. Hunter Smith said to CBC News. “One of the males commented to the victim that she should go back to her country, that she was a terrorist.”
According to Const. Victor Kwong, the attack was “completely unprovoked.” He added that the woman was “punched all over and kicked.”
A witness immediately called the police, but the suspects fled the scene of the crime before they arrived.
Police are currently searching for video of the incident, and describe the first suspect as a 30-year-old white man with a full beard, and the other suspect as a white man wearing a white hooded sweatshirt. They also found Islamophobic graffiti on a wall nearby, “something along the lines of ‘Muslims not welcome,'” said Staff Sgt. Smith.
The woman, whose name and age have not yet been identified, was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The attack is the second in southern Ontario to target Muslims following Friday’s attacks in Paris. On Saturday, an arsonist set a mosque in Peterborough on fire in a reported “hate crime.”
There were no injuries.
