<strong>Old Video of Canadian Police using excessive force on a woman shared with a false narrative…</strong>

A video of a police officer using excessive force against a woman of colour is going viral on social media platforms. The narrative being spread around this video is that Canadian police is trying to remove the Hijab of a woman forcefully.

However, when we investigated the incident, we found that the incident is being falsely passed off as a case of religious discrimination. Let us check the false narrative and unearth the truth behind the incident.

Misleading Narrative on Social Media

This is the police of Canada, the most civilized country in the world. See how to remove the hijab from a girl's head when wearing a hijab. These countries teach Islamic Emirate the lesson of human rights and respect for women
Sorry, sorry pic.twitter.com/Ciiuc2BMUt

— Islamic Emirate Afg (@TalibanUpdates) January 7, 2023

Archived Tweet

You can see a tweet shared by a seemingly Taliban affiliated Twitter handle showing a Police officer assaulting a young woman. The caption of the tweet is as follows:

“This is the police of Canada, the most civilized country in the world. See how to remove the hijab from a girl's head when wearing a hijab. These countries teach Islamic Emirate the lesson of human rights and respect for women

Sorry, sorry”

The tweet has been viewed more than 250.3K times and liked almost 2000 times. The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has received a lot of flak after its draconian diktats against women. The Taliban government imposed curbs on education of women and this has led to nation-wide protests. As people across the world have reacted sharply to this decision, the Taliban seems to be using social media for its defense. This tweet seems a similar attempt aimed at the western countries alleging double standards.

However, how true are these claims? Let’s find out.

Fact Check

The video in question here is old and was previously fact checked by us in India. The video is indeed of Canadian police but the woman seen in the video was not wearing an article of cloth that bears religious significance like a Hijab. This video was previously shared as French police committing atrocity on French Muslims. You can read our fact check on the video by clicking on the link given below.

Also Read | Video of Police Assaulting A Muslim Women Is Not From France

The details of the incident are as follows: On Dec 13^th, 2017, a young woman named Dalia Kafi was arrested by Canadian Police in Calgary, Alberta on the charges of curfew violation. Kafi filed a complaint against one Constable Dunn for using excessive force against her when she refused to remove her headscarf. The complaint went to trial where this video was presented as an evidence in the year 2020. Thus, the world came across this video for the first time. At the arrest-processing unit, Kafi says she backed away from Dunn when he attempted to remove her headscarf. Dunn can then be seen throwing the handcuffed woman to the ground face first.

Read full article here - CBC | Archived Link

In Nov 2020, when the video went viral with false communal claims, we contacted Calgary Police and enquired about this incident. We asked them whether the victim was wearing any religious article of clothing. To which, they said that the victim woman was not wearing a Hijab or any other article of clothing bearing religious significance. Here is their complete response:

The victim in this video was initially arrested for being out past a court-imposed curfew. We do not know her religious affiliation, but the scarf on her head was not a hijab or other religious covering. It was being worn for warmth as this incident occurred in the winter. We charged the officer involved with assault causing bodily harm after a supervisor who witnessed the incident immediately reported it. The video was released as part of the officer’s trial this week. Following the trial, we will determine whether discipline, up to and including dismissal, is appropriate.

Our police service has a strong policy on what to do when a person wearing a religious head covering is arrested. The policy was developed in consultation with the various religious communities in our city. We conduct our searches of the person in a way that complies with their religious views and leave any religious head covering on the person while they are in custody.

Conclusion

From our investigation, it is clear that the incident shown in the video is not a communal incident. Canadian Police arrested the woman Dalia Kafi in 2017 for curfew violation. During processing her arrest, a constable insisted on removing the headscarf worn by Kafi. When Kafi protested against it, the constable slammed her head first on the floor. The article of clothing was not a Hijab. Canadian Police have clarified that the article of clothing was a headscarf for protection against cold.