Attack Two Muslim Women For Crossing Street, French Police: I Have The Authority To Do This

French police illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Kevin.B)

JAKARTA - French police have come under strong criticism for the attack on two Muslim women wearing headscarves while crossing a street in an area near Paris.

In footage recorded on April 14, French police are seen using disproportionate force against two women wearing headscarves in the middle of the street in the commune of Asnieres-Sur-Seine, beating one of them and trying to push the other to the ground.

As police punched one of them in the head, the woman filming the video can be heard saying: "Hey, I'm filming, let her go. He slapped (the woman) and hit her."

Later, the woman who filmed the incident got out of her car and went to the police to say that she had recorded it.

"Yes, I hit her, I have the authority to do this", said the police officer, quoted from Daily Sabah on April 18.

The police's repressive treatment sparked outrage on social media, with netizens calling the French police "Islamophobic".

The statement attached to the footage on social media claimed police officers were caught in traffic and turned on sirens to move forward.

Meanwhile, the women in headscarves who have the right of way, try to cross the road, but the police officers get out of the car and don't let them pass and beat them.

Separately, the Paris Police Department said on social media the police patrol team sounded sirens in response to vehicles violating the rules, and despite the urgency, the two women tried to cross the street, 'disrespectful to the police and infuriating them.'

The department said the situation got out of control when a crowd of citizens got involved. According to them, the police will file a complaint against the two women.