Man Charged with Hate Crime for Ripping Quran at a Toronto Mosque
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A 28-year-old Canadian man has been arrested and charged with hate crimes after tearing up a holy Quran, police reported Sunday, at a mosque in the province of Ontario.
York Regional Police said in a statement that the incident took place in Markham, while the suspect, Sharan Karunakaran, was arrested in Toronto.
The Islamic Society of Markham said in a statement that a person entered the mosque in Markham, 30 kilometers north of Toronto, on Thursday, apparently tore up a copy of the Quran, attacked worshipers, and then tried to shock them. his car.
But the police did not mention the tearing of the Quran in their statement, which was issued on Sunday.
Police added that they charged the suspect with threat, assault with a weapon and dangerous driving. His next scheduled appearance is at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Newmarket on Tuesday.
The minister condemns the crime
Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng condemned the hate crime on Saturday, saying such an incident had no place in Canadian society.
“Deeply disturbed to hear of violent hate crimes and racist behavior at the Markham Islamic Society,” Ng said in a post on Twitter.
She did not give details of the incident, but said: “This violence and Islamophobia has no place in our societies.”
Muslims view any attempt to harm the Qur’an as blasphemous because they consider the Islamic holy book to be the literal word of God.
This incident comes during the holy month of Ramadan, when worshipers crowd mosques. The association said that thousands of people attend the Markham Mosque.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims said in a tweet that it was “extremely upset” by the incident.