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Pig’s head found in a toilet near WA mosque

"Please report any suspicious incidents or people you see" pleaded Mr Fal. Photo: Facebook

"Please report any suspicious incidents or people you see" pleaded Mr Fal. Photo: Facebook

A severed pig’s head has been dumped near a mosque at the University of Western Australia (UWA), sparking condemnation from students and the university.

The pig’s head was found in a toilet next to the Muslim prayer room at the University of Western Australia’s Nedlands campus.

Majdi Faleh, a PhD student from Tunisia, was preparing for his daily prayers yesterday when he discovered the head.

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“The first feeling was the feeling of someone who’s being threatened. I didn’t expect to see that,” Mr Faleh said.

"Please report any suspicious incidents or people you see" pleaded Mr Fal. Photo: Facebook

“Please report any suspicious incidents or people you see” pleaded Mr Fal. Photo: Facebook

He said the pig’s head had been left inside a traditional toilet known as a Turkish, Muslim or Arabic toilet.

“It was not the best start to the day,” he 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.”

Mr Faleh said the support he had received since posting his experience on Facebook had been overwhelmingly positive.

“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.

“In every society you have a minority of people – call them bigots – who do not necessarily understand what people’s beliefs are about.

“We just need to be united and tolerant as much as possible so our community – as a whole – can thrive and prosper.”

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