MAPLEWOOD, N.J. (WCBS 880) — A New Jersey mother is speaking out as a school district announced it has launched an investigation after a teacher was accused of pulling off a second grade student's hijab this week.
The incident sparked widespread outrage Thursday after Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, a Maplewood native, alleged in a social media post that a teacher at Seth Boyden Elementary School "forcibly removed" the child's hijab during class Wednesday.
"The young student resisted, by trying to hold onto her hijab, but the teacher pulled the hijab off, exposing her hair to the class," Muhammad wrote Thursday to her nearly 400,00 Instagram followers, adding that the teacher then "told the student that her hair was beautiful and she did not have to wear hijab to school anymore."
"Imagine being a child and stripped of your clothing in front of your classmates. Imagine the humiliation and trauma this experience has caused her. This is abuse," Muhammad continued.
The child's mother, Cassandra Wyatt, told WCBS 880 reporter Peter Haskell that her 7-year-old daughter has not returned to school since the incident and her bubbly little girl is now sad, angry and embarrassed.
"She's not doing that good. She's sad, she's very, very sad," Wyatt said. "She took her hijab off her head, she doesn't want to wear a hijab anymore."
Wyatt said she's disgusted, disappointed and shocked by the incident.
"She should have not done that," Wyatt said of the teacher. "She's not in a position to be a teacher. She should be removed, she should be reprimanded."
Selaedin Maksut, Executive Director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations of New Jersey, called the incident disturbing and is demanding the teacher be fired immediately.
"Clearly she's demonstrated she cannot be trusted around students," Maksut told Haskell.
In a tweet, the Muslim advocacy group wrote, "Forcefully stripping off the religious headscarf of a Muslim girl is not only exceptionally disrespectful behavior, but also a humiliating and traumatic experience."
The South Orange Maplewood School District in a statement confirmed an investigation immediately began after they were made aware of the of the social media posts regarding the discrimination allegation.
"The District takes matters of discrimination extremely seriously," the statement read in part. "Social Media is not a reliable forum for due process and the staff member(s) involved are entitled to due process before any action is taken."