Police have arrested the man at the center of this month’s viral video, where he slapped a foreign worker on the side of the head, chastising her for not wearing the headscarf.
The 30-year-old man was taken into police custody at 10:30pm last night.
District police chief Nik Ros Azhan Abdul Hamid confirmed that the man had indeed admitted that he “shoved the head” of the Indonesian victim. He added that the man was of “unsound mind,” and was currently undergoing mental evaluation at a nearby hospital.
The suspect’s father told police that his son had become unstable following a car accident 15 years ago.
The incident carries a prison sentence up to a year, or RM2,000 (US$500) fine, or both if found guilty.
The incident made headlines internationally, after the six-minute clip of the man berating a group of women went viral.
Approaching a group of women, the suspect asked what religion they belonged to. After one of the group claimed to be Muslim, the man asked her why she was not wearing a headscarf.
When she told the man that wearing the hijab was their choice, the man became visibly agitated. He continued to yell at her, while she ignored him. After fervently lecturing the woman, three minutes into the clip, the man then slaps her across the head.
Many consider the choice to wear hijab as being part of one’s relationship with God, and something that is intimate and personal. How one honors their relationship with God is not something left up to the judgement of random strangers, and so the Internet was set ablaze, with many condemning the man’s actions.
Let’s hope he gets some help, soon.
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