Girl, 7, describes how man allegedly cut her throat at a Detroit park

A seven-year-old girl who was allegedly slashed with a knife while at a park near her home in the United States has described the traumatic incident.

Legal groups are calling for the suspect to be charged with committing a hate crime.

Gary Lansky, 73, was charged with assault with intent to murder and felonious assault over the October 8 attack at Ryan Park in Detroit, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

He allegedly approached schoolgirl Saida Mashrah while she was playing, cut her throat and ran off.

At an Arab American Civil Rights League press conference, Saida had a small bandage around her neck while she described what allegedly happened.

She alleged the suspect came up to her with his hands behind his back, pulled up her head, and slashed her throat.

“My brother, when he came out of the school bus, he saw me running to the house (and) he ran after me,” she said.

“First when I went into the house I grabbed some napkins and then I went downstairs (and) told my mum, ‘A guy cut my throat with a pocketknife’.

“She told me to take off the napkin, so I took off the napkin, and then she went crazy, she had to call the police and ambulance to come.

“Now I feel scared and I don’t want to go to school anymore and going outside alone.

“I just like staying in my backyard,”

Saida’s family are originally from Yemen.

Her mother Amirah Sharhan said she’s still in shock.

“I only get two hours of sleep. It’s like he’s coming back to get them, get my other children. I feel so scared,” she said.

Arab American Civil Rights League executive director Mariam Charara alleged the 73-year-old also tried to stab Saida and approached her grandmother, who was wearing a headscarf.

“She was the only Arab American child on the playground,” she said.

“This was an attack on our community, on our children, on our sense of safety.”

Detroit police said the department already completed its investigation and handed it to the prosecutor’s office, which determined the charges.

“At this time, we don’t have any information that supports hate crime charges,” assistant prosecuting attorney Maria Miller said.

Lansky was arraigned in 36th District Court. He was released on $2 million bond and placed under house arrest with a GPS tether, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Saida said she now dreamed of becoming a lawyer to ensure her alleged attacker stayed in jail.