A Muslim woman punched, slapped and pushed to the ground in a suspected hate crime in Melbourne’s north was “absolutely floored” by the assault, which the Victorian premier has condemned as “evil”.
Ealaf Al-Esawie was one of two Muslim women confronted separately by the same attacker at Pacific Epping shopping centre just after 1pm last Thursday.
The entrance to the Pacific Epping shopping centre in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
Al-Esawie was punched, slapped and pushed to the ground while walking alone in the shopping centre on her lunch break. She was left with bruises all over her body and a potential back injury, Action Against Islamophobia case manager Mariam Ardati said.
Both victims were wearing hijabs when they were attacked at random, Ardati said.
Security officers gave Al-Esawie ice packs and off-duty nurses tried to comfort her after the assault in the shopping centre, where police took her statement, Ardati said. “It absolutely floored her,” she said.
However, officers failed to give Al-Esawie an incident number, or follow up with her about the attack in the hours that followed, Ardati said. By Saturday, she was still yet to hear from police, and the Action Against Islamophobia initiative instead reached out to officers on Al-Esawie’s behalf.
Officers asked Al-Esawie to provide a further statement in-person on Tuesday afternoon.
The second woman, who is pregnant, has also made contact with the initiative and was yet to hear from police as of Tuesday, the case manager said.
The initiative – which supports people who have experienced Islamophobia and connects them with services – came across Al-Esawie’s story on social media, where she tried to warn her local community about the assailant in case others were also attacked.
One commenter on social media verbally abused her, and followed up with a direct message, threatening, “I can’t wait to find you and break your leg”, Ardati said.
“She went home and she didn’t feel safe to leave her house alone. She made the post in good faith,” the case manager said.
Police twice dismissed Al-Esawie’s complaint about the threat, reducing it to just “talk”, the case manager said.
“Muslim community members are shocked but not surprised by the attacks,” Ardati said.
A close-up of a bruise Ealaf Al-Esawie sustained in the attack.
“For many months, Islamophobic incidents and hate crimes against Muslims have been on the rise but little has been done to address it and most have not received any media attention.
“More real action needs to be taken before someone gets killed, or we see another Christchurch massacre right on our doorstep.”
The women – who did not know each other – were taken to Northern Hospital, the case manager said. Northern Health confirmed the two women attended the hospital’s emergency department.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said reports of the “evil attacks on two young Muslim women are just horrific”.
“This sort of evil, evil, evil, hatred – in this instance, Islamophobia – has absolutely no place in our community,” Allan told reporters on Tuesday.
The attacks showed the importance of the government’s Anti-Vilification and Social Cohesion Bill, Allan said.
“It is so concerning to see the rise in hate in our society. But it’s here, whether it’s the attacks on Muslim women for simply demonstrating their faith – that is unacceptable – [or] the rise of anti-semitism, that is an absolute evil,” the premier said.
Federal MP Julian Hill said in a statement the attacks were not isolated incidents. He cited a 510 per cent increase in reports to the Islamophobia Register.
“Muslim women in my community in south-east Melbourne and elsewhere in Australia report a spike in racism and Islamophobic incidents,” Hill said.
Victoria Police on Monday said an unknown woman was behind the attacks, and she ran away with a man after assaulting the pair at the shopping centre.
Discriminatory, racist or hate-based behaviour would not be tolerated, a police spokeswoman said.
“Investigators believe that the victims were targeted due to the women wearing head coverings and are treating the incidents as prejudice-motivated attacks,” the police spokeswoman said.
Police were reviewing CCTV to identify the attacker, and local officers have increased their patrols around the shopping centre, the spokeswoman said.
With Alexander Darling
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