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Rabat – Amid an already fragile situation in France in the aftermath of a heinous murder of a Muslim man in a mosque, a Muslim woman was the target of a new Islamophobic attack this week.
Le Parisian said the 26-year-old woman filed a complaint after she was attacked on Monday in Poissy, a commune in the Yvelines department in the Ile-de-France region in north-central France. The perpetrator tore off her hijab.
The assault took place as the victim was walking with her one-year-old baby, Le Parisien quoted the Council of Muslim Institutions of Yvelines as saying, noting that the attacker sprayed the victim and her baby with a liquid.
The young woman said she was returning from a store around 4:30 p.m. when she was assaulted.
“A man came up behind me quickly and tore off my religious veil while yelling at me,” Le Parisien quoted the victim as saying.
Yvelines prefecture reported on the assault on Tuesday on X, noting that the investigation is ongoing to determine the circumstances of the case.
Yvelines Prefect Frederic Rose also condemned the violent act, noting that a discussion on the matter was held with Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau.
Poissy Mayor Sandrine Dos Santos also expressed solidarity with the victim, describing the attack as an Islamophobic assault.
“No form of hatred, racism, or rejection of others has any place here. This vile act is an attack on our values, on our shared humanity, and on our duty to protect-regardless of religion, origin, or status,” she said.
The case came amid uproar and backlash as the Muslim community is frustrated due to the heinous murder of Aboubaker Cisse, a Muslim man who was stabbed 40 to 50 times in a meticulous Islamophobic attack last week in a mosque in La Grand-Combe in southern France.
The 21-year-old suspect, Olivier A. had no prior criminal record. He turned himself in to the Italian police last week on Sunday.
The heinous murder caused uproar, with several marches that took place in different cities in France in memory of Cisse and in an act to condemn the increase of Islamophobic attacks in France.
According to Le Parisien, a total of 79 anti-Muslim acts were recorded between January and March this year, representing a 72% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
