An Egyptian Coptic woman was assaulted, had her hair cut off and was tossed from a Cairo metro by two women wearing the Islamic niqab, in the third such incident in a week, the independent Al-Shorouk reported on Tuesday.
The woman told authorities one of the women grabbed her by the arm shortly after she boarded the train while another pulled a pair of scissors from her purse and cut off some of her hair, the newspaper reported. The assailants, who were wearing the full face veil favoured by ultraconservatives, then pushed her from the train when it pulled to a stop.
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) said in a statement that the assaulters called the Christian woman, who is 28-years-old, an “infidel” and pushed her off the train, breaking her arm, reported Egypt Independent.
The Christian woman reported the incident to the police and filed a medical report to confirm the assault.
EOHR Director Naguib Gabriel urged the interior minister to address the recurring attacks on unveiled women before it becomes a common practice.
Authorities have stationed women on the train carriages reserved for female passengers to monitor against such incidents, Al Shorouk reported, citing an unidentified security official.
