This is the horrifying moment a young Muslim woman in a hijab is brutally attacked from behind by a fellow patient in a hospital waiting room.

The 19-year-old student was seeking treatment for a suspected broken jaw at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, Michigan in US, after falling on ice when the incident took place on February 10.

She was ‘blindsided’ and punched to the ground by a complete stranger. John Deliz, 57, had been wandering the hallways harassing patients for money and cigarettes after being released and was told to sit down or get out by security while he waited for a ride home, WDIV 4 reports.

Moments later, shocking CCTV footage shows him launching a frenzied attack on the teenager – before being tackled to the floor by a guard.
Deliz was arrested and pleaded guilty to assault the following day. He was held in custody and will be sentenced at a later date following a mental competency exam on May 30.

The unnamed victim is now suing the hospital for $25,000 (£17,700) in damages for failing to remove Deliz prior to the assault, alleging that he was an obvious danger to patients.

She also fears it may have been an Islamophobic attack because she was ‘the only one wearing a headscarf’.

Her lawyer Majed Moughni says she has been left with a life-changing injury and is so traumatised by what happened she is now afraid to leave her home.

In the lawsuit submitted to Wayne County Circuit Court, he said he believed his client was attacked for ‘no other reason but because she was a Muslim’, the Detroit News reports.

A 20-second clip released yesterday shows a dishevelled-looking Deliz creeping up on the woman as she talks to a receptionist with her back turned to him.

Without any interaction he launches a full-blown assault – punching the teen repeatedly in the face, knocking her to the ground.

Moughni claimed Deliz was released by the hospital earlier that day after seeking mental health care and insists he should have been ejected from the premises before he struck.

He told WXYZ Detroit: ‘He came for help, he wanted mental care. He didn’t get it, he was released.