Woman in Poland faces up to 5 years in prison for dragging 13-year-old Ukrainian girl by her hair

A woman in the Polish city of Siedlce attacked a 13-year-old Ukrainian girl and her mother after hearing the girl speaking her native language. According to the newspaper Rzeczpospolita, the attacker faces up to five years in prison.

The 41-year-old Polish woman has been charged with insulting a minor Ukrainian girl on national grounds and using violence against her. The woman approached the girl after hearing her speak Ukrainian, then began pulling her hair and hurling insults at her.

Commissioner Barbara Jastrzębska of the Siedlce Municipal Police Headquarters said on Tuesday that police received a complaint from the girl's mother last week. According to the information provided, an unknown woman had publicly insulted a minor, directing offensive remarks at her, including ones related to her nationality, and then used violence against her.

Law enforcement identified the attacker with the help of city surveillance camera footage. Katarzyna Wąsak, head of the district prosecutor's office in Siedlce, said the woman had been drinking alcohol before the attack. At one point, upon hearing the girl speaking Ukrainian, she approached her, began cursing at her and pulling her hair. During questioning at the prosecutor's office, the woman could not explain her behavior.

The prosecutor placed the woman under police supervision as a preventive measure. She has also been banned from contacting the victims or approaching them within 50 meters. Given that the act was of a hooligan nature, the suspect faces up to five years in prison.

Other similar incidents

Police in Łódź recently reported detaining two Polish citizens who attacked a 15-year-old Ukrainian boy in late June, charging them with an attack motivated by nationality. In Radom, a 34-year-old man triggered a mass attack on three 20-year-old Ukrainians following a conversation about origin and the Volyn tragedy. On August 14, two adults attacked two Ukrainian children — a 14-year-old girl and her 12-year-old brother — at a playground in Bydgoszcz.