Man tore veil off woman’s face

A MAN who ripped the veil off a Muslim woman in Nantes has been given a five-month suspended jail term.

The 30-year-old unemployed man was accused of religious violence after attacking attacked the woman at a fair. He had claimed he was just enforcing the 2010 law banning the wearing of garments that covered the face.

The judge told him it had been a violent attack on a woman and added: “Ordinary citizens are not allowed to take the law into their own hands.”

The man admitted the offence and apologised for what he had done. He had torn off the woman’s niqab – a veil which reveals only the eyes – but hurt her in doing so, forcing her to take three days off work.

He had also initially given police a false identity.
Photo: Kevin Browne - Fotolia.com