An Australian man punched and stomped on a woman in an “inherently vicious” was suspected as an Islamophobic attack has been sentenced to three years in prison. Stipe Lozina, 44, attacked Rana Elasmar, 32, in a cafe in Sydney. Ms. Elasmar, who was wearing a hijab, was 38 weeks pregnant at the time. Lozina assaulted Ms. Elasmar after he asked her for money and she refused him. The “inherently vicious” attack was fuelled by anti-Muslim prejudice, the trial heard.
The man shouted that “Muslims” had attacked his mother and knocked the pregnant victim to the ground. He then hit Ms. Elasmar at least 14 times and stomped on her head, before being restrained by other customers. Ms. Elasmar said she felt she had been attacked because of her religion, and had feared for her unborn baby. “If nobody intervened, I could have been killed,” she said. Her baby was safely delivered in the month after the attack.
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