
Targeting woman for their attire and way of living in the name of religion is nothing new. But instilling fear and shaming people is a different thing and physically attacking a lady for her clothes make it a much serious concern. Recently, a female student in Turkey was assaulted by a man, her supposed crime — she was wearing shorts during Ramzan!
The footage of the attack that took place in broad daylight in a moving bus has gone viral, creating a huge furore online. In the video, a man hits a woman hard on her head while getting out at his stop. And then when she decided to fight back, he further grabbed her and pushed her to the back of the bus before running out of the vehicle. What’s unfortunate was that while the man kept attacking the woman, others watched and did not protest.
University student Asena Melisa Saglam was travelling on a bus in Istanbul when the assailant hurt her. Saglam said that throughout the journey the man had been verbally harassing her by saying she should not be wearing shorts during Ramazan, an AFP report said.
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İstanbul Pendik’te şort giydiği için 21 yaşındaki Asena Melisa Sağlam’ı minibüste darp eden saldırganın görüntüleri ortaya çıktı. pic.twitter.com/7rn7BWDVlK
— Haberler (@Haberler) June 21, 2017
The attacker was detained shortly afterwards but following questioning, he was set free. During the interrogation he reportedly said he had been “provoked”, causing a new outcry.
It’s the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims abstain from food and water from dawn to dusk. It is a period when people from the community is expected to spread love, however, many instances have come forward where religious bigots are growing intolerant to those why tend to defy the norm. In Pakistan, while clerics thrashed journalists for drinking water during Ramzan fast, in India, Dangal actor Fatima Sana Shaikh was shamed for wearing a swimsuit during Ramadan.
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