A pig's head has been dumped near a mosque at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth , sparking condemnation from students, the university and Muslim groups.
The severed pig's head was found in a toilet next to the Muslim prayer room at the UWA Nedlands campus.
Majdi Faleh, a PhD student from Tunisia, who wished to keep his surname anonymous, was getting ready to do his regular prayers at the university when he made the gruesome discovery about 12.30 on Sunday.The 31-year-old student said the room, located on campus is used mostly by Muslims for their ablutions - the traditional washing of hands and feet before performing prayers.
"The first feeling was the feeling of someone who's being threatened. I didn't expect to see that," Faleh said."It's not because it was a pig's head - it can be anything, any other animal - it was the message that was clear. "There clearly is motivation of these people trying to say you're not welcome here, or some similar message.
"The fact that it happened at university, that's really degrading and really shocking to me." UWA described it as a deplorable act, adding it was saddened. "It is concerning that people using the UWA Muslim prayer room have been targeted in this way," a university spokesman said.
The matter has been reported to police.
"We would like to reinforce that UWA strives to support a culturally inclusive and tolerant campus community and the university will offer help and support to our Muslim students at this time." The UWA Student Guild also condemned the act.
"The UWA community has experienced an unprecedented display of Islamophobia on campus," the guild said. "The UWA Student Guild strongly condemns this deeply damaging and offensive incident which is absolutely unacceptable. "Acts like this are designed only to incite religious and racial hatred."
Muslim Youth WA president Shameema Kolia said it was another example of people being targeted just because they were Muslim. Faleh said the support he had received since posting his experience on Facebook had been overwhelmingly sympathetic. "There was actually a lot of positive support from Australian people around the country and it really makes us feel safe and welcomed in this country," he said.
The incident comes about a year after worshippers found a pig's head at a mosque's courtyard in Wallsend in Newcastle's western suburbs of NSW.
