An American student was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting his Sikh classmate and forcibly removing his patka, the second incident of students from the community being targeted in US schools within a month.
The attacker, a ninth grader, was suspended from Richmond School in Queens suburb of New York, United Sikh, an advocacy group reported without revealing the identities of the two boys.
The victim said his classmate had been bullying him for sometime, asking him why he did not shave and frequently pulling at his ‘patka’.
In the incident which occurred on Tuesday, the Sikh student tried to hold on to his 'patka' when his classmate tried to remove it from behind and hit him in the face with keys. The attacker was taken into custody by the police.
Earlier this month, a 16-year-old student in New Jersey was charged with hate crime after he set afire to a Sikh student’s patka.
"It is very disconcerting to learn that the administration at Richmond Hill High School failed to take the reports of bullying seriously," remarked Baljit Kaur, United Sikh Awareness Project Coordinator.
{{/usCountry}}"It is very disconcerting to learn that the administration at Richmond Hill High School failed to take the reports of bullying seriously," remarked Baljit Kaur, United Sikh Awareness Project Coordinator.
{{/usCountry}}"Sikh students being bullied is a well-documented phenomenon stemming from fear, ignorance, and misunderstandings concerning the unique Sikh appearance," she added.
Sikhs has been the victims of hate crime in the US after the 9/11 attacks as they are mistaken for Arabs due to their headgear.