An Indian man filmed an incident of racial abuse in Canada last week, when a local woman called him a “Paki” after a parking dispute, CTV News reported. The woman, who also commented on the man’s skin colour, later claimed she was “not a racist”.
The video recorded by human resources professional Rahul Kumar, who moved from India to Canada seven years ago, shows the woman yelling at him outside his home in Edmonton. As he filmed the incident, she said from the driver’s seat of her car: “You can film all you want, Paki.”
The woman then continued to shout expletives at Kumar. As she drove off, she spat on Kumar’s car and called him a “loser”, reported CTV News.
Police are investigating the incident but have not called it a hate crime yet.
Speaking to the news channel later, the woman said the dispute over parking began weeks ago when Kumar approached her at a housing complex where she was visiting a friend. Last week, she visited again and got abusive when authorities at the building asked her to move her car.
“It doesn’t matter if it [the disagreement] justifies it [the language] or not; it happened and that’s where I took it, and I’m responsible for that,” the woman said. “I can live with myself. I have no problem looking in the mirror...I love myself. I have no problem with what happened.”
Kumar told the channel he was stunned by the woman’s remarks, and was concerned because children were nearby during the incident.
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