Hate crime, unfortunately, is not an uncommon occurrence in the world. People are attacked simply because of the way they look. From tearing off girl’s hijabs to a man beaten in public within an inch of his life, just because he looked different, we have seen it all. The bigotry in these hate crimes is sure to make the blood boil of any rational human being.
So, you can be sure that’s the effect an alleged hate crime had on people when an 11-year-old girl said that she had been a victim of one.
Khawlah Noman, a resident of Canada claimed that a man cut her hijab (about 30 cm from the bottom, as she discovered later), as she was walking down the street to school with her younger brother on January 12, 2018.
She added that the man pulled down the hood of her jacket and slashed her hijab twice with a scissor. As reported by The Star, she told reporters on January 12, 2018,
“I felt really scared and confused. I didn’t feel comfortable about what was going on.”
She also said that when the man attacked her, she turned around to face him and screamed. She described the man to the police, as roughly 5-foot-8 to six feet tall, wearing black pants, a black hoodie and brown gloves. He had a moustache, and glasses, too. He was smiling at her.
Her little brother too vouched for her story and added that they were very frightened and that he was glad both of them were safe.
The story naturally enraged a lot of people, and condolences started pouring in for the little girl, among which was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau, as well as a lot of other people, took to Twitter to condemn the crime.
My heart goes out to Khawlah Noman following this morning’s cowardly attack on her in Toronto. Canada is an open and welcoming country, and incidents like this cannot be tolerated.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 12, 2018
Inevitably, the story was picked up by the media and was condemned worldwide.
But the latest development in the story has us shocked. After an investigation, the police has revealed that the alleged incident of ‘hate crime’ never happened. The family of the girl has now issued a sincere apology to all Canadians.
They added that like the rest of the world, they ‘assumed the story to be true’ and were “deeply sorry for the pain and anger caused in the past several days.”
The girl, as well as the family, denied any interviews and the reason for such a huge lie is still a mystery. Unfortunately, her little lie could spell insensitivity towards the real victims of such hate crimes and that’s what we are really worried about.