Toronto police investigating report of man cutting 11-year-old girl’s hijab

TORONTO — An 11-year-old Toronto girl says she was walking to school this morning when a scissors-wielding man cut parts of her hijab.

The Grade 6 student says she was with her younger brother when she felt someone behind her.

She says a man pulled off the hood of her jacket and started cutting the back of her hijab.

The girl says she then turned around, screamed and the man ran away.

She says the man returned a short time later and continued to cut her hijab from behind before he smiled and ran away.

The girl says by the time she got to school at about 9 a.m., her hijab had cuts in it as long as 30 centimetres.

Her mother told reporters she is angry someone would target a child, calling on police to treat the incident as a hate crime.

Police say they are looking for a suspect in his 20s.

Daniela Germano, The Canadian Press