A WOMAN HAS been charged with committing a hate crime murder after she allegedly pushed a man in front of a New York subway train.
Erika Menendez, a 31-year-old woman from Queens in New York, was charged by police last night over the death of Sunando Sen, a 46-year-old man originally from India.
Sen was pushed into the path of an oncoming train as it approached the platform at the 40th Street – Lowery Street station in Queens at around 8pm on Friday night.
In a statement from the Queens District Attorney, the suspect was quoted as saying that she was motivated by her hatred of Muslims and Hindus after 9/11. She told police:
I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers. I’ve been beating them up.
District Attorney Richard A Brown said that Menendez had been seen talking to herself while seated on a bench at the station before the incident took place. Sunando Sen was standing with his back to the suspect as the train pulled into the platform. Police said he would not have seen who pushed him onto the tracks.
“The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter’s worst nightmare – being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train,” said Brown.
The victim was allegedly shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself. Beyond that, the hateful remarks allegedly made by the defendant and which precipitated the defendant’s actions can never be tolerated by a civilised society.
Mendendez has been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime. If convicted, she faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.
Sen was the second person to die after being pushed in front of a train in New York this month.
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