Qaanitah Hunter – Cii News| September 25, 2012

A charge of assault was laid against a bystander in an accident scene who
pulled off a Muslim woman’s Niqab (veil) and allegedly blamed it for the accident.

Mayfair resident, Shamila Khota said the minor accident occurred last Monday
at 11:20 involving a Micra bakkie.

Immediately after the accident, a man opened her car door and began tugging
at her niqaab or veil.

“He grabbed my arm and started swearing me and screaming ‘get this bloody
black thing of your face’ and when I pushed him away he grabbed my wrist,
twisted my arm and pulled down my parda and grabbed my scarf,” she
described.

Khota said she struggled when another lady stopped and pushed the offender
of her. She said that as he accosted her, the man insulted her veil and blamed it
for the accident.

Ironically, she noted, the accident was not her fault.

“After the incident I heard the white man (driver) call the man Joe. So I
asked him if he knows this man and he said yes he works for us.”

The man’s work colleagues dismissed the incident as him being ‘possessive’,
Khota said.

She did not mention the incident when she reported the accident that same
day but after the man refused to apologize to her, Khota said she laid
charges of harassment.

She also laid a complaint with the South African Human Rights Association
but has not received any response to date.

“I felt as if I was violated because this man- I mean I am protecting myself
from being seen by other man and this man grabbed on my body. For a whole
week I could feel his hand on my arm.”

The South African Police Services(SAPS) could not be reached for comment.