Police have come under fire after it emerged they stopped a schoolboy for interrogation, as he was wearing a dark veil, and then asked him if he was a member of the Taliban, the former Islamist rulers of Afghanistan, adding insult to injury.
His veil was in fact due to being afflicted by porphyria, an illness rendering the skin highly susceptible to the sun.
The boy, an 18-year-old high school student, was riding home with a companion on a bicycle, when two vigilant policemen spotted him.
Immediately recognising the danger of him being up to no good, one of the policemen stopped them, barking “You with the funny clothes, stop!”
After this the sharp witted officer questioned him: “You a member of the Taliban?”, and then demanded he remove his funny veil. Satisfied that he was not in fact an Islamic terrorist, the pair were apparently allowed to be on their way.
The next day, the boy and his mother submitted complaints to the police station responsible, and received an apology; police brass then ordered a DVD explaining the illness distributed through the force, and directed that illness awareness be pursued to prevent future incidents involving potential Taliban.
Porphyria itself is a disorder which can result in hypersensitivity to sunlight, with skin swelling and being damaged by exposure.
A dermatology professor at Kobe university commented that “In order to restrict exposure to sunlight, we advise such coverings. Calling such a sufferer “Taliban” is pure ignorance, and is quite outrageous.”
The incident came to light when it was brought to the attention of the Tottori prefectural assembly, who sharply criticised police conduct. The police chief with whom the buck stopped apologised, saying “It was inappropriate.”
Via Yomiuri.
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Highly unlikely for the Taliban to walk around in broad daylight dressed so.
Well... just some cop being somewhat too enthusiastic at his job.
That is so effed up. Screw the cops, got to feel sorry for him having that illness. Either he goes out of his house during daylight with everything covered out, go out at night or force to live as a hikikomori.
That has to suck one way or another...
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/wp-content/gallery/cache/34514__448x_porphyria-veil.jpg
well, that's highly suspicious for me
Then you are an ignorant moron
How is it someone who dressed like black mage from FF IX doesn't seem suspicious to you?
Then when starts being suspicious for you? When he starts to ignite a stick of dynamite?
Someone who looks like that, just IS suspicious. Besides, if there were a criminal out there who wanted to hide his face, than he would probably doing cosplay with a mask. So whoever sees the guy on the picture knows, that he is suspicious and if criminal not very smart. But suspicous nevertheless.
he's a black mage!
Well, this isn't the right way to approach someone, regardless of what he's wearing, but the fact is that no one got hurt over it.
If it was in US, or SPECIALLY UK, the guy could end up shot. Several times even. Remember the guy that got shot in London subway who wasn't even a muslin?
I mean, compared to all overreactions on this side of the planet regarding supposed terrorist threats, this is a joke. :P
He should have sneezed on the police officer and said sorry, "It's just Ebola"...
strange....reminds me of people confusing anime with cartoons..
which is for me a bit insulting saying that clannad after story is the same as tom and jerry...
Tom and Jerry was better.
Tom and Jerry, still a better love story.
Least he didn't get tased...
I believe the police officers had their hearts in the right place. That doesn't excuse their ignorant racism, though.
Taliban is a race? I tought it was just a synonym for being a terrorist from a specific country...
But in either case, asking someone if he is something hardly goes under racism. Especially when the questioned person looks like THAT. If I were the police officer I surely would have made a joke, like "excuse me, are you Darth Vader?" xD
A secret ninja among the modern Japanese
Hmm... would they have stopped him and accused him of being a Taliban member if he was Yui in Taiyou no Uta?
Personally, I fail to see how it even matters why the kid wore a veil. Would it really have made a difference if the kid was Islamic? Or even some other religion? Since when does a choice of religion imply guilt? Would the kid have been let go so easily if he wasn't sick and just wore it because he liked it? I don't think educating people about a disease does anything to address the underlying problem of viewing a whole religion as a member of a terrorist organization that probably doesn't exist anymore. To me, this is no different than Nazi's rounding up Jews, and Americans rounding up Asians.
Darth Vader in summer clothing XD
serious question: didn't Michael Jackson have a similar skin disease
WTF.....stupid police
That looks fucking awesome.
the first time i saw that pics, the one i thought was Zorro.
The kids looks more like a goth/bee-keeper.
HAHAHAHAHA... too funny for words... XD
sunabouzu?
The third paragraph has a typo referring to the boy as a "her" instead of "him" at the end of the sentence.
Also, is it not typically the women that would wear a veil? Why would the police think that a male wearing one would be part of the taliban.
Terrorists are everywhere in Japan- those cops boss, the Justice minister, admits to being friends with them! Can't be too safe...!
Good thing it was a Japanese schoolgirl, a foreign-looking one would've been hauled off...
Police FAIL
This illness reminds me of a girl that had a skin allergy to water!
I just looked it up after you mentioned and that is very weird. That would suck unbelievable amounts of ass. Kinda makes pool parties a no-no.
Yeah.. and the shower. How would one bath?
She's asked that a lot, apparently.
The answer is really quite depressing. [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-520329/The-teenage-girl-allergic-WATER.html]
Oh.My.God.
I swear, if I'm ever to swear again, I will include a curse to such a fate ...
School girl? The source article clearly says school boy that was arrested.
Yeah thats what I thought. Its either that or I don't know how to read Japanese anymore.
Corrected - the gender is only actually mentioned once in the whole piece...
ignorant officer >.>
Calm down mister japanese police guy. The taliban ain't interested in japan.
Shit she must be hiding a bomb in her sailor uniform.
same illness with Kaoru Amane in Jdrama Taiyo no Uta a.k.a. Song of the Sun :D
I think they call the disease "XP" in that series though
Or the superior feature-length movie version with YUI.
Just tell them it's cosplay.
Could have been worse...
The cop could have run her heart through with a stake while yelling "Die, vampire!!"
Die vampire, you dont belong in this world
What is a man? I miserable pile of secrets!
But enough talk... Have at you!
no kidding. with a hat like that...hellsing, black blood brother, or hunter d?
Don't stake me bro!
The cop must have been a member of the Bush administration. They've been having a hard time finding work in the US.
You really think they'd let them anywhere near japan?