Australian woman charged with assaulting two Muslims

Australian police have charged a 31-year-old woman with assaulting two Muslim women at a Melbourne shopping center last week.

The woman, from Pascoe Vale, is set to appear in court on Wednesday. Authorities allege that on February 13, she targeted the victims because of their head coverings. According to reports, she grabbed and choked a 30-year-old pregnant woman using her hijab at Epping shopping center before pushing and slapping another 26-year-old woman in a separate attack 10 minutes later.

This incident comes just weeks after Australia enacted stricter hate crime laws following a series of high-profile antisemitic attacks. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denounced the assault as "reprehensible" and rejected claims that his government was not addressing Islamophobic attacks as seriously as antisemitic ones.

"I take all attacks on individuals based on their faith seriously, and perpetrators should face the full force of the law," he told reporters.

Melbourne police are also investigating reports of online threats against one of the victims. Both women sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

On Tuesday, Aftab Malik, Australia's anti-Islamophobia envoy, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that all forms of hate must be eradicated, urging national leaders to strongly condemn the attack.

Earlier, Rateb Jneid, president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, voiced concerns over rising attacks on Muslims and criticized the government’s response as "grossly insufficient."

Australia’s government recently introduced what it describes as the country’s toughest-ever hate crime laws, which include mandatory prison sentences ranging from one to six years for using hate symbols like the Nazi salute.

These reforms follow an increase in antisemitic attacks, which have sparked heated debate in Australia. Last week, two nurses were suspended after a video showed them allegedly threatening Israeli patients and boasting about refusing to treat them.

In late January, Sydney police discovered a caravan containing explosives and an antisemitic note. Just a week earlier, a synagogue was set on fire and defaced with antisemitic graffiti.