Close X
Thursday, December 12, 2024
ADVT 
International

In Suspected Hate Crime, Muslim Woman In Headscarf Stabbed To Death In US

Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 Sep, 2016 01:36 PM
    In a suspected case of hate crime, a 60-year-old Muslim woman wearing a headscarf was brutally stabbed to death by unknown persons in New York, nearly two weeks after a Bangladeshi-origin imam of a mosque and his associate were killed.
     
    Nazma Khanam, a former schoolteacher, was on her way home along with her husband Shamsul Alam Khan, 75, after closing their shop and picking up some groceries when she was attacked.
     
    They were just blocks away from their home when the attacker struck about 9:15 pm on Wednesday, New York Daily News reported.
     
    Her asthma-stricken husband found her on a Queens sidewalk in Jamaica Hills with a 4-inch knife lodged in her chest, the sources said.
     
    Ms Khanam, married for 45 years to Mr Khan, have three children. They moved to the US from Bangladesh with her husband and youngest son in 2009. They all became citizens in June.
     
    "Somebody killed me," a mortally-wounded Ms Khanam told her husband as he cradled her in his arms, her blood spilling out onto his hands, relatives said.
     
    She was wearing traditional Muslim attire -- headscarf -- when the assailants struck. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she died.
     
    "He (Khan) is screaming and crying, 'My wife just came to this country to just get killed! We had a better life in Bangladesh!," the victim's nephew Humayun Kabir, who is a policeman, said yesterday.
     
     
    The attack prompted Ms Khanam's relatives to denounce the slaying as a hate crime.
     
    "They did not take her phone, pocketbook, bag, nothing. We feel this is a hate crime... We want justice," the victim's another nephew Mohammad Rahman said.
    Investigators, however, believe Ms Khanam may have been the target of a robbery attempt -- even though she was found with all of her possessions, police sources said.
     
    The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is monitoring the probe. The attack was not captured on camera but a man was recorded sprinting away moments later.
     
    Relatives will escort her body to Bangladesh for burial. Kabir's uncle said "We want proper justice for this".
     
    Some in the Muslim community drew parallels to the murder of a Queens imam and his friend in Ozone Park.
     
    A 55-year old Bangladeshi-American Imam at a mosque here and his assistant were shot dead from point blank range by a lone gunman in broad daylight amid growing concerns across America over rising Islamophobic rhetoric.
     
    Police said Imam Maulama Akonjee and Thara Uddin, 64, were walking home after midday prayers at Al-Furqan Jame Masjid Mosque when they were approached from behind by a male with medium complexion who was dressed in a dark polo shirt and shorts.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    EgyptAir Wreckage Found Near Greek Island

    EgyptAir Wreckage Found Near Greek Island
    EgyptAir said on Thursday that Egypt' s foreign ministry confirmed to Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority that wreckages of missing airplane were found near Greek Island of Karpathos.

    EgyptAir Wreckage Found Near Greek Island

    Formerly Conjoined Twins Released From Texas Hospital

    Formerly Conjoined Twins Released From Texas Hospital
    Twin girls who were formerly conjoined below the waist have been released from a South Texas hospital.

    Formerly Conjoined Twins Released From Texas Hospital

    Victim Of Fatal, Targeted Vancouver Shooting Known To Investigators

    Victim Of Fatal, Targeted Vancouver Shooting Known To Investigators
    Sgt. Randy Fincham says the attack occurred in the city's south Cambie neighbourhood at about 10:30 Monday night.

    Victim Of Fatal, Targeted Vancouver Shooting Known To Investigators

    Canada Joins International Group Seeking Peaceful Settlement In Syria

    Canada Joins International Group Seeking Peaceful Settlement In Syria
    The International Syria Support Group includes 26 countries and organizations, including the United States and Russia, which are co-chairs of the body.

    Canada Joins International Group Seeking Peaceful Settlement In Syria

    The 'Untouchables' Of Yemen Caught In Crossfire Of War

    The 'Untouchables' Of Yemen Caught In Crossfire Of War
    They live in shantytowns on the outskirts of cities, are often refused schooling and work menial jobs like shoe-shining or street cleaning or turn to begging. Other Yemenis have traditionally called them the "Akhdam," or "servants."

    The 'Untouchables' Of Yemen Caught In Crossfire Of War

    Pakistan Sees Jihad As Low-cost Option To Bleed India: Husain Haqqani

    Pakistan Sees Jihad As Low-cost Option To Bleed India: Husain Haqqani
    Prosecution of jihadis in Pakistan is difficult as the system considers them to be "the good guys", according to Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's former envoy to the US.

    Pakistan Sees Jihad As Low-cost Option To Bleed India: Husain Haqqani