18 January 2016

Bank ejects Muslim woman over full-face veil

The woman went to the Sparkasse bank in Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, last Wednesday to make a transfer, but an employee would not let her enter, reported the Neuss-Grevenbroicher Zeitung.

The 20-year-old woman said the bank employee stood in her way, blocking her from entering and asked her to leave.

She offered to remove the veil from her face in order to identify herself, but this apparently did not resolve the situation and it escalated into a loud confrontation.

The woman said the employee pushed her, leaving a mark on her body because she was carrying heavy shopping bags.

By the time police arrived, the woman had already left, but she later filed a complaint alleging bodily harm.

A spokesperson for Sparkasse Neuss denied the woman's version of events and said that the employee had simply tried to explain that the niqab - which covers the face and head, except for the eyes - violated the bank's ban on masks. [The Local] Read more