Three teenagers arrested, charged by Canada police in two incidents of hate crime | World News

Toronto: Three teenagers have been arrested and charged by Canadian police in connection with an alleged hate-motivated incident in which they removed the turban of a passenger in a city bus.

Police vehicles at a transit station in the town of Barrie, Ontario province, in connection with the hate crime investigation. (Credit: Barrie Police Service)The announcement of the arrests was made by police in the town of Barrie in the province of Ontario. The arrests were in connection for a pair of incidents that occurred on November 8 in Barrie.

Both occurred aboard Barrie Transit buses. The first on Sunday happened around 7.15 pm (local time) when the suspects “began harassing” a 26-year-old man aboard a bus.

“The suspects pushed and slapped the victim while making derogatory comments. When the victim sought the bus driver’s aid, the suspects pushed him off the bus and onto the platform,” Barrie Police said, in a release.

The suspects fled subsequently the area. They then allegedly assaulted a 22-year-old man passenger on another city bus around 8.30pm. “One of the suspects removed the victim’s turban and poured beer on him. When the victim tried to call police, the suspect grabbed the cell phone and threw it on the ground,” the police statement added.

As the victim approached the bus driver for assistance, two of the suspects restrained him while the third punched him in the face and upper body. The suspects then fled the bus and got into a nearby taxi. Just before 9pm, officers from Barrie Police located the taxi and took the three suspects into custody.

Neither victim sustained serious injuries.

The three suspects, aged 16, 18, and 19, have each been charged with Offence Motivated by Hatred under the Criminal Code of Canada. They were not named as one of them is a minor.

The alleged racist hate crime was condemned by Indo-Canadian groups including the Hindu-Sikh Unity Forum. In a statement, the Forum said, “Such acts of hatred, intimidation and violence have no place in Canada, a nation built on diversity, mutual respect and the fundamental dignity of every individual.”

Commending the Barrie Police Service for charging the three suspects, the Forum added, “No individual should ever feel threatened, humiliated or unsafe because of their faith, ethnicity, appearance or religious identity.”

Anirudh Bhattacharya is a Toronto-based commentator on North American issues, and an author. He has also worked as a journalist in New Delhi and New York spanning print, television and digital media. He tweets as @anirudhb.Read More