Brit-Muslim man threatens to “kill” cousin for not wearing headscarf

LONDON - A British-Muslim woman has approached a London court for justice after her cousin allegedly threatened to kill her because she had abandoned wearing a ‘hijab’ or headscarf, which left her too scared to leave the house.

Twenty-nine-year-old Mohamed Al-Hakim had allegedly phoned Alya Al-Safar, and warned that she must die because of the ’shame’ she had brought to the family by not wearing a headscarf outside, the Daily Mail reports.

The paper quoted Al-Safar as saying that although she was not sure whether or not her cousin’s threats were ’serious’, it left her family members so frightened that they asked her not to go out of the house.

“I really felt scared because my cousin was threatening me. I didn’t know if he was joking, if he was just mad, or if it was true and he would do it. He started shouting, ‘Listen to me, you had better do what I said. I have seen you on the Edgware Road and if I see you again I will kill you,’” Al-Safar said.

She also claimed that her cousin told her: “‘Listen Alya, I am warning you if by the 19th of June you are not wearing the hijab back, I am warning you I will kill you and harm you. I am giving you ten days. You brought shame to your family, you should not have done that.’ I was so scared I didn’t want to leave the house and everyone in my family said, ‘don’t go out’,” she added.

Al-Hakim allegedly instructed her midnight on June 9 to play the conversation over a loudspeaker so that her family members could also hear the threat.

Earlier, Al-Hakim had branded her family ‘bitches and whores’ because of her decision, the court heard.

Al-Safar mother, Fatima Al-Musawi, also accompanied her to the Isleworth Crown Court to give evidence on her behalf.

The 44-year-old, who was wearing a hijab, told the jury that she was “shocked” to hear that warning.

The case continues. (ANI)