Muslim student expelled over hijab in Russia

Moscow, March 26 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russian prosecutors are looking into a case of alleged expulsion of a female

from a Siberian university over her hijab.

A local TV station in Krasnoyarsk city reported that an unnamed third-year student from Muslim-populated Dagestan had been expelled from the city's medical school for wearing a headscarf.

"After the TV report was broadcast, the Krasnoyarsk district prosecutors launched a probe to check the legitimacy of the expulsion," local prosecutor's aid Yelena Pimonenko said.

Krasnoyarsk State Medical University confirmed that one of its students had been expelled for "violating internal regulations", but declined to specify which rules.

According to the school's rules issued in February and published on its website, students are forbidden from entering university premises in "items of clothing that stress their religious affiliation", as well as headwear (except for medical items), beach wear and outer clothing.

The debate over hijabs in Russian schools ignited in October 2012 in the southern region of Stavropol, where a school barred several Muslim girls from attending school wearing headscarves.

The region's authorities went on to impose a blanket ban on headscarves at local educational facilities.

Last week, a Stavropol court ruled against overturning the ban, which had been appealed by four residents of the region.

An estimated seven percent of Russians are adherents of Islam, and the country's North Caucasus region is predominantly Muslim.

IANS