A Muslim woman was viciously attacked near the State Library in Melbourne on Thursday by an unknown assailant who subsequently ran away.
A witness described the attack as a ‘brutal punch’ and said a shirtless man walked past the 21-year-old woman before “he turned around and punched her on the side of the head”.
“It was a brutal punch. Once that happened he tripped her and she fell right to the ground. I got up and screamed at him and he backed off. People came to aid the girl and call the ambulance,” 16-year-old Muhammad, who declined to give his last name, told Guardian Australia.
A screengrab provided by Victoria police of the man who allegedly assaulted a 21-year-old Muslim woman outside of the State library.
The teenager further said that he followed the man until the next street crossing. “That’s when he noticed me and my friend were following him, and he said we should back off. He took a knife out, metres from us,” he added.
When Muhammad confronted the perpetrator and accused him of a racial attack, he replied he was “not racist”.
According to Fairfax Media, the attacker allegedly ripped off the woman’s hijab after tripping her and twice punching her. However, police has since said they have no reason to believe the assault was racially motivated.
Acting sergeant Shaun Toohey said on Friday, “Police had no information as to what the motivation was for the attack, and there was nothing to say it had been racially motivated.”
“The victim said nothing was said to her.” Toohey said.
The acting sergeant further said that the victim was “surprised” when she read reports in the media that the attack was racially motivated.
Police also gave details about the attacker and described him as Caucasian, 183cm tall and approximately 45-years-old with a slim build, short light-coloured hair and a beard, with a tattoo on his upper right arm. Further, he was shirtless at the time of the attack.
In September last year, then commissioner of Victoria police Ken Lay had said attacks against Muslim women in particular had risen since the death of terrorism suspect, Abdul Numan Haider.
