New York police seek man who set fire to
Muslim woman
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[September 14, 2016]
By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City
investigators on Tuesday searched for a man suspected of setting fire to
a traditionally dressed Muslim woman in a Midtown shopping area, police
said.
Police said they were investigating the incident, which occurred the day
before the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, as a hate
crime. |
![](../images/091416pics/news_f9.jpg)
New York Police released a video of a man, seen in this still image
taken from that video, suspected of setting fire to a
traditionally-dressed Muslim woman as she window shopped on Park Avenue,
in New York, U.S. September 13, 2016. New York Police Department/Handout
via REUTERS |
The 35-year-old
woman was standing outside a luxury clothing boutique on Park
Avenue on Saturday evening when she felt her left arm suddenly
heat up and noticed her blouse was on fire, city police said in
a statement.
"She patted out the fire and observed a male standing next to
her with a lighter in his hand," police said.
The victim, who local media reported was a tourist from
Scotland, was not injured and declined medical attention, police
said. Authorities did not name her.
The suspect fled before officers arrived.
On Tuesday, police released video surveillance footage of the
suspect, a slim young-looking man wearing a backwards baseball
cap walking down a sidewalk. No arrests have been made.
The Council on Islamic American Relations has condemned the
incident, which it said followed an increasing number of attacks
targeting Muslims in the United States.
"We are clearly seeing a spike in attacks on individual Muslims
and Islamic institutions in New York and around the country,"
the Muslim advocacy group said in a statement on Monday. "It is
time for the mayor and the NYPD to put forward the necessary
resources to investigate and prevent these attacks on the Muslim
community."
Last month, a man killed a Muslim cleric and his associate on
the street as they left a mosque in borough of Queens.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Lisa
Von Ahn)
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