<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>338575</docID> <postdate>2025-02-19 15:58:48</postdate> <headline>Islamophobia victim terrified, police arrest suspect</headline> <body><p><img class=" wp-image-338576" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20241120155328055100-original-1-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="669" height="446" /></p> <caption>Cricket star Usman Khawaja has accused political leaders of being silent over Islamophobic attacks. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p class="wire-column__preview__author"><span class="kicker-line">By <b>Holly Hales and William Ton</b> in Melbourne</span></p> <p><strong>A woman will face court charged over Islamophobic attacks on two women at a shopping centre, as one of the victims says she remains terrified.</strong></p> <p>The 31-year-old Pascoe Vale woman is accused of assaulting a pregnant 30-year-old Muslim woman inside an Epping shopping complex in Melbourne's north on Thursday before attacking 26-year-old Ealaf Al-Easawi about 10 minutes later.</p> <p>"She came straight towards me, slapped me with what I believe was a closed fist to the left side of face and my chest and shoved me so hard to the tiled floor," Ms Al-Easawi told AAP.</p> <p>The childcare worker had been grocery shopping on her break and said she had never seen her attacker before.</p> <p>"I was shaking. I could barely talk and breathe," Ms Al-Easawi said.</p> <p>The 26-year-old says she is now too scared to leave her home and has trouble sleeping due to body aches, bruises and back pain.</p> <p>"I feel terrified, traumatised and still can't believe what happened to me," she said.</p> <p>"The scene won't come out of my head. It keeps repeating itself in my mind - how I got attacked.</p> <p>"I'm not a homebody, but since Thursday, I've been stuck in front of the four walls, and every crack I hear from the house, I'm like, 'Oh my God, there's someone coming'."</p> <p>Victoria Police charged a woman on Wednesday with intentionally and recklessly cause injury, unlawful assault and aggravated assault.</p> <p>It will be allege the victims were targeted because of their head coverings.</p> <p>Investigators are also investigating a report of online threats being made against one of the victims.</p> <p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was quizzed on Wednesday about the Islamophobic incident, offering his first comments almost a week after the assault.</p> <p>"Any attack on people on the basis of their faith or who they are is reprehensible, and I certainly hope that the perpetrators get tracked down and face the full force of the law," he told reporters.</p> <p>Mr Albanese also denied Australians view Islamophobia differently to anti-Semitism, pointing to the appointment of a special envoy on Islamophobia.</p> <p>"I take all attacks on the basis of people's faiths seriously," he said.</p> <p>When asked about political leaders' slow response to the attack, Ms Al-Easawi said it caused fear amongst the community.</p> <p>"It causes this terrible thing inside that person feeling, 'oh, why aren't they condemning this?'" she said.</p> <p>"I am part of this country, and this country is a multicultural country."</p> <p>Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja on Tuesday accused Mr Albanese of being silent over Islamophobic attacks and favouring other faiths.</p> <p>The "atrocious" attacks will be "swept under the rug like all attacks against the Islamic community", Khawaja said in an Instagram post.</p> <p>When asked on Tuesday by AAP for a comment on the attacks following his prompt responses to a spate of anti-Semitic incidents, Mr Albanese's office pointed to a statement released by federal assistant minister for multicultural affairs Julian Hill.</p> <p>Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the violence was unacceptable, egregious and a disgrace and of particular concern was one of the victims being pregnant.</p> <p>Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan condemned the "horrific" attacks when asked by reporters, calling the incidents "evil hatred".</p> <p>Australia's Special Envoy to combat Islamophobia Aftab Malik said the "disgusting" attacks on the women brought the hidden cancer of Islamophobia to the surface.</p> </body>