Four Muslim women have allegedly been assaulted in Sydney in an attack described by New South Wales police as “bias-motivated”.
The women were allegedly punched outside the University of Technology in Ultimo on Wednesday, leaving one victim with a bloodied mouth.
“[I was] staring absentmindedly ahead of me when some lady … came up to me and punched me in the face,” said Hanan Merheb on Facebook.
“In front of me, another hijabi had just been punched, and just behind, this same woman was about to punch yet another hijabi.
“She just punched me and walked off, as casually as if she had just come to say hello.”
The woman appeared in central local court on Thursday, charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and two counts of common assault.
The four women, two 18-year olds, a 19-year old and a 23-year old, were all students at the University of Technology.
Islamophobia Register Australia said it was “shocked by the incident” and was investigating the matter.
Kais Al-momani posted on Facebook claiming to have witnessed the attack.
“I didn’t know what had happened but I could see straight away that her mouth was covered in blood. She was crying and shaking and said she’d been punched in the face and knocked to the ground by another woman who she didn’t know.
“[She] was a young student from a migrant background. As you can imagine she was absolutely terrified after this incident … I wish there was more we could do as academics, and as a university, to support victims like her, and to make our campus a safe place for everyone.”
