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Hate crime: teenager escapes jail term

New York: A teenager convicted of hate crime for cutting the hair of a Sikh schoolmate in the U.S. has ducked jail term in exchange for a year of community service and an essay for the judge.

Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Joel Blumenfeld ordered Umair Ahmed, 19, to complete 180 hours of community service and write about what he had learned since his attack on 16-year-old Harpal Vacher. Based on Ahmed’s conduct in the next year, the judge will decide next June whether to put him behind bars.

“What you did was incredibly stupid,” the judge was quoted as saying by the New York Daily. “Incarceration just can’t be the only answer. For this next year, the threat of jail hangs over your head.”

Ahmed faced up to four years behind bars for the May 24, 2007 attack on Harpal, in which he dragged the Newtown High School freshman into a school bathroom, ripped off his turban and cut off his waist-length hair, prosecutors said.

Ahmed was irate at a taunt about his mother, authorities said. A Queens jury convicted Ahmed of felony menacing and coercion charges, both hate crimes, along with weapons possession and harassment. The verdict which angered Sikh advocacy groups came as New York City Chancellor Joel Klein personally apologised to another Sikh student who was punched in the face with a set of keys by a teen trying to rip off his turban.

Following a rally calling for more protection for Sikh students, Mr. Klein met privately with Jagmohan Singh Premi, 18, who was assaulted Tuesday at a school in Queens.— PTI

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