A non-cognisable offence was registered against a 43-year-old American woman, who allegedly abused and assaulted a burqa-clad woman here on Sunday, police said on Monday. The American woman is mentally disturbed and undergoing treatment, an official said. She was booked after the victim, a 27-year-old doctor, registered a complaint against her.

According to the police, the incident took place when the two women were shopping at the Clover Centre market in the Pune cantonment area. It all started when the American woman asked the victim, who was donning a burqa, whether she was a Muslim, they said. "When the complainant replied in the affirmative, the American woman abused her and started assaulting her," said the official from the Cantonment police station.