Montreal police are investigating after an attack on a pregnant Muslim woman.
Police say the woman was going to pick up her daughter from school on Tuesday in the city’s north end, near the Galeries D’Anjou, when two teenagers came up behind her on their bikes and tried to rip off her hijab.
The momentum of their tugging on her head scarf caused her to fall down.
Const. Abdullah Emran said investigators have few details about the culprits because it happened quickly, but said it appears they were boys around 15 years old.
Police are reluctant to call the attack a hate crime, but haven’t ruled out the possibility.
“We want to make sure we confirm the facts,” Emran said.
“Are we dealing with two teens trying to pull prank, or an incident where a woman was targeted?”
Investigators say they may go door to door and look at any camera footage in the area.
They also urged the two teenagers to come forward.
Haroun Bouazzi, head of the Association of Muslims for a Secular Quebec, said he’s been pushing for Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre to do more to address hate crimes.
“We’re very disappointed,” Bouazzi said.
“We understand it’s a serious matter for him [Coderre] and we hope that he’s also going to say to the SPVM [Montreal police] that they have to take seriously this complaint.”
