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The story that swept Canada about an attack on a young girl's hijab was fake

A story that swept Canada about a man attacking a young girl by cutting her hijab with a pair of scissors has turned out to be fake.

Toronto Police launched an investigation into the alleged hate crime on Friday after it was claimed that 11-year-old Khawlah Noman was walking to school when she was approached from behind by the man who pulled off the hood to her jacket then cut her hijab with a pair of scissors.

The story received widespread media coverage and social media attention, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who described it as a “cowardly attack”.

But on Monday, the Toronto Police Service announced that investigators had determined that the attack didn’t actually happen.

<em>News – the received widespread media coverage and social media attention (Picture: Steemit)</em>
News – the received widespread media coverage and social media attention (Picture: Steemit)

In a statement, it said: “On Friday, January 12, 2018, the Toronto Police Service requested assistance identifying a man involved in an Assault with a Weapon investigation.

“After a detailed investigation, police have determined that the events described in the original news release did not happen. The investigation is concluded.”

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Toronto Police Service spokesman Mark Pugash told CTV News: “We had a team of investigators who put together a significant amount of evidence and they came to the conclusion that the events that were alleged did not happen.

“We have spoken with (the girl), we have spoken to all the people the public would expect us to speak to in the course of a thorough investigation, and when we put all of that together — we looked at it very closely — and that was the conclusion that we came to.”

<em>Investigation – Khawlah Noman claimed she was attacked by a stranger who cut her hijab with scissors (Picture: Reuters)</em>
Investigation – Khawlah Noman claimed she was attacked by a stranger who cut her hijab with scissors (Picture: Reuters)

He said the attention the story received meant it was important to release information as quickly as possible.

“It… quite understandably reached an enormous amount of media and social media attention and we thought it was important that get our officers’ determination out as soon as we could so that people could have an accurate understanding of something that caused significant concern.”

(Top picture: Getty)