In a shocking incident, a woman wearing a Charlie Hebdo T-shirt was viciously stabbed in broad day light at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London. Police are searching for the attacker who escaped from the crime scene.
The 39-year-old victim suffered a stab wound and was seen with blood pouring down the side of her face after the stabbing at the site where people gather for public speeches and debates on Sunday, reported the Daily Mail.
A Knife Was Found Near the Scene of the Attack
The woman was wearing a blue T-shirt with "Charlie Hebdo" written on it. As per the video footage, a large group of people was standing outside in torrential rain before the attacker lunged at the woman and stabbed her before she cowered and walked shakily away as the man ran in the opposite direction.
The attacker, dressed in black, sprinted off after the stabbing, with police and members of the public chasing him.
Officers recovered a knife near the scene of the attack, but no arrests have been made so far, reported The Sun.
Investigation Going On
The Met Police described it as 'a very distressing incident' for the victim. The force said in a statement, "Officers based in Westminster are working alongside colleagues from the Royal Parks OCU to investigate and identify the person responsible."
They informed that her injuries are not life-threatening she was treated at the scene by the LAS before being taken to a central London hospital. However, it is not clear whether there was a motive for the stabbing.
Social Media Reactions
Twitter users after seeing the video footage, expressed their concerns over this 'disgraceful' incident and asked the authorities to take a severe and immediate action against the perpetrator.
Some users asserted that the freedom of speech and expression is being attacked in the country while others blamed the mainstream media for not broadcasting and highlighting the story.
One Twitter user wrote, "The barbarians are invading, law and order is breaking down; this is the modern version of the Fall of Rome."
Speculations are intensifying on the social media. A few netizens dismissed the "unknown motive" theory and have claimed that the woman is a former Muslim who goes to Speaker's Corner for preaching Christianity and is popular. "She's pinched there before," says one of the Twitter users.
Controversy around Charlie Hebdo
Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. An attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo in 2015 had shook the world when it published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Terrorists stormed its office in Paris and killed 12 people before escaping.
The attackers said the magazine had used blasphemy by publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to stir up hatred against Muslims around the world.
In March 2021, the French magazine sparked outrage after its front page cover showing a cartoon of Queen Elizabeth kneeling on the neck of Meghan Markle, a reference to the death of George Floyd last year in the US.
