The much publicized attack against an 11-year-old girl where a man supposedly cut off her hijab while she walked to school last week, did not in fact happen.
On Jan. 12, the girl told police that she was on her way to Pauline Johnson Junior Public School in Scarborough when a man dressed in black came up behind her.
She said the suspect – described as an Asian man with a moustache — pulled off the hood to her jacket and cut off her hijab with a pair of blue-handled scissors before fleeing the area.
Toronto police responded and said they were investigating the alleged incident.
Today morning Police said that after a thorough investigation, they don’t believe the incident happened.
Police spokesman Mark Pugash said, “There was an extensive investigation Friday and over the weekend and quite simply, investigators came to the conclusion, considering all the evidence they had, that what was described did not happen.”
Pugash declined to call the incident a hoax, but said police now consider the investigation closed.
No one was arrested and there are no charges pending on connection with the investigation, he said.
There was no indication from police or school officials as to why the girl would have made up the story if it did not happen.
The Toronto District School Board initially issued a short statement Monday saying they were thankful the assault never occurred and that they would not comment further.
Safwan Choudhry, a spokesperson for the Muslim group Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama`at Canada, told CP24 that he’s thankful police investigated the matter properly.
Choudhry said, “We’re relieved to learn that this attack never took place.”
