Woman ticketed in France for wearing face veil

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Woman ticketed in France for wearing face veil

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A woman has been ticketed in a suburban Paris shopping centre for wearing a face veil

12 April,2011 09:09 pm

It is the first reported sanction under a new ban on the garments. Another woman in Paris suburb was stopped for wearing a veil, but was let go with a warning. The inconsistent response illustrates the challenge for towns with a large Muslim community in enforcing a law that some view as Islamophobic.Though such veils are very rare in France, many of the countrys 5 million Muslims see the ban as a stigma. Islam is Frances second-largest religion after Catholicism. The ban also has been criticised by Irans government and activists in Jordan.A 27-year-old woman was stopped by police in the mall parking lot in the town of Mureaux. She was handed a ticket that requires her to pay $216 fine or register for citizenship classes within a month.Police said the exchange was brief and calm. The incident occurred on Monday, the day Frances ban on veils such as the niqab and burqa came into effect.Another woman was stopped on Tuesday for wearing a veil in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. The 35-year-old was brought to the police station and reminded of the law.While these were the first publicly reported incidents, it was unclear how many women have been stopped so far nationwide. The French government has estimated only about 2,000 women in France wear such veils, and a few vocal wearers have said they will defy the ban.