Recently in Macquarie University, Sydney Australia, a woman who was caught on camera on 20th of January 2017 calling a muslim woman with hijab a terrorist has been pronounced guilty of the crime. Her act against this muslim woman is not the first in the country as many anti muslim crimes have been committed in the recent time.
Reports confirmed that Semaa Abdulwali and her husband, Ramzy Alamudi, were sitting their car in Sydney’s north-west when Suong Thao Nguyen, 36, started banging on their car window at Macquarie University. She was quoted to have said:
“Who are you? Why have you got a mask? Terrorist. You have gun?” However, the video recorded also justified her act.
In order to curb the occurrence of situations like this, the court announced that Nguyen has been sentenced to a two-year good behaviour bond by Burwood Local Court, and also copped a $750 fine for the January 20 incident. Also, she will also attend counselling and anger management courses, and pay $817.95 in damages to the car.
In the court, Ms Abdulwali explained that she was wearing a head scarf and veil which revealed only her eyes when she and her husband saw a woman staring at them. Mr Alamudi, her husband asked Nguyen if something was wrong after which she approached the vehicle, shouted at the couple, attempted to pull off windscreen wipers and keyed the car. She explained that they had no choice than to camera her before the police arrived.
However, the court heard from Nguyen’s lawyer Andrew who said his client was sorry for subjecting the couple to ‘extraordinary unpleasant experience’ and there was ‘no excuse for what happened’.
In effect to this act, the university decided to ban Nguyen from the campus after the footage was released and seen by 1.6 million people in four days. In addition, Nguyen is now dealing with ‘notoriety’ from the video as well ‘family troubles’ and the fact that she cannot attend campus to complete her studies is a major trouble on its own.
Magistrate Seagrave said that her act was that of anger:
“Ms Nguyen was unable or unwilling to control her impulses on this occasion and there was no provocative behaviour whatsoever by either victim that could explain this gross over-reaction.”
Magistrate Seagrave said Nguyen’s behaviour was ‘wrong and unacceptable’ and that such prejudice had no place in a multicultural society. Nguyen was initially charged with destroying or damaging property and common assault following the January incident, NSW Police explained.
Australian police have warned everyone to be mindful of their reactions against Muslims. It was confirmed that daily reports on anti Muslim crime is becoming alarming and so the police stated that whoever is involved will be arrested and dealt with accordingly.
