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Join on Telegram Rabat – France’s General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) has opened an investigation after two women with hijab (Muslim headscarf) filed a complaint against police for a violent attack.
AFP reported that the women accused police personnel of public insult and violence on the Clichy Bridge in the Hauts-de-Seine on April 14.
According to Le Figaro, the investigation opened on April 28.
The lawyer of the two women, Nabil Boudi, told AFP that he is satisfied with the speed “which the prosecution” has tackled the complaint filed on April 21.
However, the lawyer noted it is regrettable that such racist and Islamophobic attacks still prevail in France.
In its report on the case, Le Figaro noted that the two victims, aged 24 and 23, accused three police officers of hitting them several times on the Clichy bridge.
One of the women said that the police officers attempted to tear off her hijab.
The victims said they were crossing a pedestrian crossing when “a police vehicle activated its flashing lights to force the passage and broke suddenly in the middle of the lane when arriving at their level.”
One of the police officers left the vehicle to “check” the two women, and he went on to slap one of the women multiple times.
The other two police officers are facing accusations of hitting one of the women until she lost consciousness.
According to AFP, the police officers also filed a complaint on April 16 against the women for “contempt, rebellion” and violence against authorities.
The police officers claimed that the two women “crossed the road” while the police vehicle activated the “light warning devices to control an offending vehicle.
France has in recent months witnessed an alarming surge in reports of attacks on Muslims.
In April, Muslims and non-Muslims across the globe expressed anger after a video went viral of a man attacking two women, including one with Hijab.
Read also: French Muslims Have Much to Lose Ahead of 2022 Election
France’s population was estimated at 65.10 million in 2019, with the Muslim community representing 8% of the total number.
The country’s Muslim community has repeatedly expressed anger over the increase in Islamophobic attacks in recent years.
The frustration reached new heights in the buildup to the recent presidential elections.
Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate who challenged the incumbent Emmanuel Macron in last month’s second round of the elections, has long vowed to ban Hijab in public spaces.
“People will be given a fine in the same way that it is illegal to not wear your seat belt. It seems to me that the police are very much able to enforce this measure,” she said during her presidential campaign.
