Toronto police say reported hijab attack on 11-year-old girl 'did not happen'

Toronto police have said that reported hijab attack on an 11-year-old girl that drew national and international media attention, in fact, 'did not happen.'

Even Prime Minister Justice Trudeau condemned the incident after it had been widely reported in local and international media that a man allegedly tried twice to cut an 11-year-old girl's hijab on Friday on her way to school with her younger brother in city's Scarborough area.

The girl has not been named by police.

bdnews24.com also carried a report ran by the Reuters news agency.

Police previously said they were treating the case as a possible hate crime. They concluded their investigation on Monday saying no such incident took place.

"After a detailed investigation, police have determined that the events described in the original news release did not happen," police said, according to CBC News.

The girl, along with her mother and representatives from the Toronto District School Board, spoke to reporters inside her school Friday after she had talked to police.

Her story captured national attention and drew public condemnation from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory.

Police spokesperson Mark Pugash said in an interview with CBC, "These allegations were extremely serious and not surprisingly, they received national and international attention."

"Investigators worked extremely hard since the allegations on Friday. They gathered evidence from a variety of sources," before concluding the story was untrue, Pugash said.

However, the girl who reported the incident would not face any legal consequences.

On Monday afternoon, the prime minister said he was relieved that the incident hadn't in fact taken place.

"We are a country that defends freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and people's rights to go to school without being fearful or harassed," he said. "This is fundamental to who we are."

In a separate statement, Toronto Mayor Tory said "it is good to know" that no attack actually took place.