Shafira Vidyamaharani recorded a man making racist, threatening and hateful remarks to her on Friday June 13,
Vancouver police are investigating after a 22-year-old Vancouver woman says she was left shaken by a man who allegedly made racist, threatening and hateful comments to her at a bus stop on Friday.
Shafira Vidyamaharani, who is Muslim and wears a hijab, wants the encounter to empower people to speak out about racism when they see it happening.“I wished I had that support when the incident happened, while I was being threatened, while I was being harassed,” she said Sunday.
Vidyamaharani recorded part of the hateful encounter, which she said lasted 10 minutes, on her phone.
Vancouver police said Monday in an email to CBC that they applaud the young woman for coming forward so they could launch a timely investigation. Police said the incident happened at a bus stop on Main Street at around 11 a.m. Friday. So far no arrests have been made. The suspect’s identity remains unknown, police said. The incident follows the murders of four Muslim people in London, Ontario, who police say were targeted and run down by a driver because of their faith. That violence has left many Canadians troubled by the level of racism in this country. People of colour, as well as those who wear clothing that identifies their religion or culture, say they feel unsafe being out in public.T he encounter involving Vidyamaharani happened Friday at a bus stop at Main Street and East 49th Avenue while she was on her way to work.
She said a white man approached her and began asking her where she was from and what she was wearing on her head. She did not answer him and moved to stand with the other people waiting at the bus stop……
Source:cbc.ca
‘She was thrown to the ground’: Police investigate the attack on Muslim woman in Edmonton
EDMONTON — June 13, An attack on a Muslim woman in Edmonton is being investigated by police. On Friday, a Black Muslim woman in her 50s was out for a walk in the area of 88 Street and 144 Avenue around 9 p.m. when an attacker approached her from behind and threw her into the pavement.
Jibril Ibrahim, Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton president, who spoke on behalf of the affected family to CTV News Edmonton and knows them closely, described the incident as hate-motivated. “She was just walking on the street in the evening, just to get a little bit of fresh air,” Ibrahim said. “She was not expecting all of a sudden someone to grab her by the neck.
“She was thrown on the ground,” he added. “That is where she sustained injuries to her face, lips, even her teeth. Also, her nose now has a crack on it, the doctors are reporting.”
The attacker fled the scene without a word, Ibrahim said.Ibrahim said that the woman had to be taken to the hospital in a wheelchair because her knees were also injured.
After staying in hospital for the night, the woman was released to recover at home. According to Ibrahim, her entire family is still reeling from the attack.
“The victim is feeling that she has some fear, kind of traumatized by the incident and she doesn’t feel like going out on her own.”
When Ibrahim was talking about the incident to the woman, she disclosed to him that this is not the first time she has been subjected to hate and racism. He said that many community members are scared to report incidents like this for fear of reprisal.
“A lot of people aren’t reporting it because they are afraid that reporting might cause people to follow them to their house,” Ibrahim shared. “The community, you know when we talk to them they report to us because they feel comfortable that they won’t be able to be recognized and so on.”
Source: edmonton.ctvnews.ca
