Muslim woman stabbed and beaten after attacker tries to tear off her hijab

'He threw me on the floor then he beat me like an animal... I said to myself, "I am going to die today for sure"'

The attack occurred as the victim left morning prayers at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Google maps)

A Muslim woman has been attacked by a stranger who tried to tear off her hijab, stabbed her and beat her when she resisted.

The anonymous victim was treated in hospital after the assault, which took place as she walked home from morning prayers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Though police are investigating, no arrests have been made, according to local FOX6 News.

"I said to myself, 'I am going to die today for sure,'" the victim told the local news station. "So he gets up from the car and told me to come here. He said to take my hijab, my scarf.

"I tried to fight him. 'Don't take my hijab,' you know? So he threw me on the floor then he beat me like an animal."

The attacker fled the scene of the crime, close to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. The religious organisation is based in the Town of Lake suburb, close to General Mitchell International Airport.

There are an estimated 10- to 15,000 Muslims worshipping across the wider county of Milwaukee, according to religious leaders.

Munjed Ahmad, a spokesperson for the society, told FOX6 News: "Nothing was stolen. There was no robbery. Her valuables remain with her.

"The only motive we can think of – because everything stayed with her and this individual went straight for her scarf – is a hate crime."

The number of hate groups specifically targeting Muslims in the US nearly tripled across 2016, and figures from major cities suggest that Islamophobic hate crime has been on the rise since Donald Trump was elected.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre documented close to 900 incidents of harassment and intimidation in just 10 days after the US presidential election.