Ihsan Malkawi, a 42-year-old Muslim woman, is filing a lawsuit against the city of Yonkers after she was forced to remove her hijab for her jail booking photo.
On Wednesday, Malkawi and her attorneys filed the civil rights suit against Yonkers, claiming that the Yonkers Police Department violated her religious rights by forcing her to remove her hijab, which she wears for religious purposes. The lawsuit also states that the department’s removal policy, which forces individuals in custody to remove religious head coverings while in custody, violates the Constitution and should be abolished.
The ordeal took place last August when Malkawi met with Yonkers police officers at the local precinct along with her husband and New York Child Protective Services. They were meeting to settle a family dispute with their adolescent child, who had raised allegations of physical abuse. Once the interview concluded, officers arrested the couple, then demanded that Malkawi remove her hijab for a booking photograph. She attested the removal, pleading through tears that she wore her hijab for religious reasons, and it was not a fashion accessory. She attempted to explain that, in compliance with her faith, she does not remove the hijab for photographs or in the presence of males other than members of her family. However, the officers did not buy it, telling the woman that she was required by law to remove it. Malkawi reluctantly removed her hijab, fearing that if she did not comply, she would face additional charges.
After taking the booking photos, the officers then confiscated her hijab, leaving her exposed for the duration of her arrest, including her overnight stay in the holding cell while multiple men walked by. Even the following day, Malkawi was ordered to appear in City Court, again without her hijab. Adding insult to injury, officers waited nearly 36 hours before returning the sacred wrap.
“I just wanted them to respect my rights, but I felt like they didn’t care,” Malkawi explained to the HuffPost. “From the first minute, I felt discriminated against.”
With her head and hair exposed against her will, Ms. Malkawi felt terrified, helpless, and violated,” according to the complaint.
“It is unacceptable that the City of Yonkers would cling to a policy that degrades and humiliates Muslim women, and others, by forcing them to remove their head covering against their sincerely held religious beliefs. This policy is illegal,” said Ahmed Mohamed, litigation director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations – New York, which is representing Malkawi along with the law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady.
The City of Yonkers declined to comment on the matter.
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