What to Know
- A subway rider was slashed in her forehead and hand in what police say was an unprovoked attack on Wednesday.
- Twenty-three-year-old Rabia Bugum was riding the southbound 6 train in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx around 9:45 p.m. when the suspect brandished a weapon and attacked her, according to police
- Bugum says she had never seen the man before
A subway rider was slashed in her forehead and hand in what police say was an unprovoked attack on Wednesday -- and she says she cried out for help during the frightening attack, but no one came to her aid.
Twenty-three-year-old Rabia Bugum, who hales from Bangladesh, was riding the northbound 6 train in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx around 9:45 p.m. when the suspect brandished a weapon and attacked her, according to police.
Police say the suspect, who was only described as a 6-foot-tall man, had been looking at the victim and followed her when she changed positions on the train.
Bugum says she had never seen the man before.
One witness tells NBC New York that the suspect almost fought another passenger before he turned on the Bugum.
"He almost started a tussle with another man and then that didn't really play out. The next thing you know, he was just on top of this girl, kicking and stomping her," said Nicholas Altobelli. "Then [he] started stabbing her once in the head and once she put her hand up, cut her across the hand."
Local
The suspect then fled the train at Brook Avenue stop and the victim was removed to Lincoln Hospital where she's in serious but stable condition, police said. A weapon has not been recovered.
Following her release from the hospital, where she was treated after being slashed on her forehead and hand, Bugum told News 4 she "feels good" after the attack, which occurred as she was returning home from her job at a Dunkin' in Harlem.
Bugum said she entered the train and got a seat when she suddenly made eye contact with the suspect -- a man she says she had never seen before.
His gaze made her so uncomfortable that, Bugum's brother says, she tried to move away.
Her brother tells News 4 she was calling for help bit no one came to her aid.
An investigation is ongoing as police search for a motive and the suspect in the violent crime.
On Thursday, NYPD Crime Stoppers published a tweet with video of the suspect possibly behind the slashing in which he appears to be wearing all-black clothing and a light-colored hat.
NYPD urges anyone who has information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS or via their website www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.
