MAIL ONLINE: Two men put pregnant woman, 21, in hospital - undergoing treatment / Around 60 people attacked police in Argenteuil, north west of the capital / Women guilty of wearing niqabs can be fined the equivalent of around £130
Violent clashes have broken out in a Paris suburb after police tried to arrest a Muslim woman for wearing a veil.
It came as two men today put a 21-year-old pregnant woman in hospital for covering her face with a veil on the same council estate.
In what is being viewed as a severe test of France's burka ban, around 60 people attacked police on Wednesday night in Argenteuil, a commuter town to the north west of the capital.
Under a law which came into force in 2011, women found guilty of wearing niqabs in public can be fined the equivalent of around £130.
But when officers approached the unnamed woman, passers-by became involved in a 'riot' and police used tear gas and flash-ball shots to disperse them, according to a police source.
'The police were attacked' the source told Le Parisien newspaper. 'They were insulted and beaten, including punches'. Two men aged 23 and 37, including a cousin of the young veil-wearer, were arrested and placed in custody under suspicion of violence and public order offences.
In the end, 40 riot police had to be called to the area to restore order, said the source. » | Nabila Ramdani | Thursday, June 13, 2013
