London police say a suspect has been arrested and charged after a woman punched, spit on, and tried to rip the hijab off another woman at a Westmount-area grocery store.
On Tuesday, police appealed to the public for help in identifying a woman whose picture was taken at the scene of the attack at the Superking Supermarket on Wonderland Rd. S. Around 10pm Tuesday, police arrested a 38-year-old woman. She is charged with one count of assault. Her name has not yet been released.
Police say the victim was shopping with her four-month-old son at the Superking Supermarket around 5pm Monday when another woman began yelling, punching and spitting on her. The woman then grabbed the victim’s hijab in what police say was “an attempt to pull it off of her head” before pulling her hair.
The woman then took off.
The victim suffered minor injuries in the attack.
Police say the attack was unprovoked and are still trying to determine a motive.
"We are hoping that anybody that was present in the supermarket at the time, who may have seen or heard anything that they believe is relevant to this investigating, comes forward," says Constable Sandasha Bough.
Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call police at (519) 661-5670.
