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Canadian woman arrested for anti-Indian hate graffiti in Toronto subway system
A 29-year-old woman was arrested in Toronto for vandalizing subway stations with anti-Indian graffiti, facing eight charges in a hate crime investigation.
A 29-year-old woman has been arrested and charged in connection with scrawling graffiti in Toronto’s subway system targeting Indians.
In a release issued on Friday, Toronto Police Service or TPS said that it had arrested a person following a hate-motivated mischief investigation and identified her as Toronto resident Megan Elsley.
Between July 3 and December 21 last year, TPS officers responded to numerous calls for reports of graffiti at various Toronto Transit Commission or TTC stations.
The statement said the suspect allegedly attended the stations and vandalised property by writing anti-Indian messaging within them and on subway cars.
On January 20, investigators executed a search warrant at a residence in Toronto leading to the arrest.
Elsley has been charge with eight counts of mischief.
“This investigation is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offence,” the release noted.
It said when such crimes are reported to the police they are investigated by the Hate Crime Unit.
“If a person is charged and convicted of the offence, the judge will take into consideration hate as an aggravating factor when imposing a sentence,” the release added.
Anti-immigrant sentiment, at times verging on xenophobia, has risen in Canada as a result of the surge in newcomers due to policies implemented by the Government of then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. While over the past couple of years, Ottawa has attempted to reduce immigration, the high levels of intake and their impact on housing affordability and infrastructure led to public opinion veering sharply against the inflow.
Hate targeting Indians has burgeoned as they form the largest and most visible cohort of new immigrants. Multiple videos of people being attacked for their national origin have emerged in recent months.
In October last year, Peel Regional Police or PRP announced the arrest of Freda Looker-Rilloraza, 29, in connection with spraypainting anti-Indian graffiti at a prominent location in the town of Mississauga in the Greater Toronto Area or GTA.
The graffiti found next to a children’s park in the GTA town included one reading ‘Indian Rats.’
The release said police received a report of the incident on the morning on September 22. “The spray-painted hate graffiti contained derogatory remarks toward the Muslim and Indian community,” the statement said.
