Dean denies hitting veiled student

A TUNISIAN university chief has been charged with assaulting a student who was wearing a veil.

Humanities department dean Habib Kazdaghli had spoken out against the imposition of religious observances on Manouba University in Tunis.

Fundamentalist Salafis have been agitating for prayer rooms and female students to be allowed to wear the veil during exams at the institution.

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A young Salafi student filed a lawsuit against Mr Kazdaghli claiming he assaulted her in his office. He has denied that, saying he was only defending himself against an agitated student who burst into his office uninvited.

“The victim has become the guilty one,” he said. “It was I who first filed charges against the two veiled students who charged into my office and ransacked it.”

He is charged with “violence perpetrated by a civil servant in the course of his duties,” which carries a penalty of up to three years’ jail and a fine of $300.