An eighth grade schoolboy has been expelled and arrested after he set fire to his Muslim supply teacher’s hijab.
The incident occurred moments after she told him off for misbehaving in class.
The 14-year-old pupil, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attending a lesson at Westdale Middle School, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when the relief teacher disciplined him for being naughty. When she turned around to carry on with the class, the boy allegedly took out a lighter and put it to her scarf.
The hijab immediately caught fire sending the teacher and class into a frenzy. Fortunately the teacher managed to put the fire out and only suffered minor burns which were treated at the school.
The school’s “Drug Task Force” responded to the matter which occurred on October 4 and arrested the boy. He was expelled immediately.
Parents have expressed their anger at not being informed of the incident for nearly four weeks, some claiming that it was due to a cover up. Why the incident has only come to attention now remains unknown. School officials described it as an “isolated incident”.
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East Baton Rouge Parish Superintendent Bernard Taylor said in a local press statement: “It’s unfortunate that one student out of the almost 1,200 at Westdale made a bad, bad choice and faces some pretty serious consequences. “But it doesn’t change the fact that Westdale is a fine school.”
