Teacher cuts off young girl\'s hair for not wearing hijab Sheikhs of Nagaa al-Haddadin, in the village of Qurna, southern Luxor, have intervened to resolve the problem between the father of a schoolgirl and a teacher who cut off his daughter’s hair. Several mediators intervened trying to convince the student’s father to drop charges against the teacher who belongs to the same village and resolve the issue in a friendly way.
The student’s father set the condition that the teacher would apologise to him and to his daughter about the crime she committed, adding she hurt her daughter both physically and morally.
The teacher’s husband and relatives have refused her apologising, as according to their tradition, it is unacceptable for a woman to apologise to a man.
The teacher Eman Abu Bakr who wears a niqab, asked President Mohamed Morsi, to intervene and rescue her from the injustice threatening the teacher, her family and her future.
Abu Bakr, who cut Mona Khairy Berbesh’s hair, said she is very bitter about the offensive media coverage to the issue which – according to her – did not exceed the limits of a teacher joking with her students.
Abu Bakr admitted that she made a mistake when she cut her student’s hair, explaining that she had no idea some people will make it a political issue because she wears the niqab, even if she doesn’t belong to any religious party or movement.
She added that she doesn’t have children of her own and that she treats her students as her children, caring about how their health and appearance. She stressed that she does her work as a teacher with all love and dedication for the last ten years.
The teacher added that she is keen girls should wear the hijab (veil) due to her origins in a village, and that she is worried about her students from any harassment by the boys - adding that she only wanted to protect them.
She said she is confident God will bring her victory because her intentions are purely religious and never meant to hurt or offend the girls, but was only “urging them to wear the veil which is our tradition in Upper Egypt that girls wear the veil maximum at the age of ten.”
Abu Bakr ensured that she is ready to be interrogated by the prosecution, and that she would not lie and give full details. She added that all the students love her, as she never had any problem neither with the students nor with the management since she was appointed.
She added that the issue was escalated because the father of one of the girls, Mona Khairy Berbesh, insisted that she apologises to him and to Mona “which is not acceptable in our traditions and customs in Upper Egypt (Sahidic traditions).”