Man arrested for shoving Turkish woman onto New York subway tracks

A 39-year-old man has been arrested after shoving a Turkish woman's head into a New York City subway car, leaving her seriously injured, the police said.

Kamal Semrade, who was arrested late on Monday at a homeless shelter near La Guardia Airport in Queens, has been charged with attempted murder in the terrifying assault that left Emine Ozsoy, 35, in critical condition.

The incident happened early on Sunday on the platform of a subway station on Manhattan's Upper East Side when Semrade pushed Ozsoy's head into the moving train.

Ozsoy was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery for a spinal fracture, police said.

Semrade and the victim boarded the same E train early Sunday, the New York Times reported quoting the police.

When both got off at the Lexington Avenue/63rd Street Station and as the train begun to pull out, Semrade approached the Turkish woman from behind and pushed her head into, that resulted in her falling back on the floor, it added.

As a result, the woman suffered spinal injuries, with cuts to her head, and was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition, the police said.

The police did not reveal the victim's name, but a fundraiser that ran online to help cover the woman's medical expenses identified her as Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy, who was an illustrator and designer and migrated to the US from Türkiye, the New York Times report said.

According to the Daily News, Ozsoy is making some progress in her recovery, although it remains unclear whether she will fully recover from her injuries.