A Muslim mother in Hijab was stabbed several times in front of her children (aged 3 and 12) on Wednesday in the French village of Sury-le-Comtal (Loire).

A man in his 60s approached the mother pretending to ask her for information and jumped on her, stabbing her several times in the neck, sternum and back. She’s currently in a critical condition in hospital.

The attacker was “heavily drunk” and placed in police custody. A “psychiatric assessment” was conducted by the prosecutor’s office of Saint-Etienne which opened an investigation.