A 19-year-old man in Sweden has been charged with abuse after he beat his 14-year-old sister with a baseball bat because she refused to wear an Islamic veil.

The young man, who lives in the municipality of Karlskrona, was brought before the Blekinge District Court last week on charges of abuse and assault. He is alleged to have struck his younger sister with a baseball bat several times while yelling at her “wear a veil”, 24Blekinge reports.

The 19-year-old is said to have become angry with his sister after she returned from a shopping trip with their mother and he noticed she was not wearing an Islamic veil. When he asked her why she was not wearing a veil, the girl refused to answer. The brother then walked to his room and emerged with a baseball bat which he used to strike the 14-year-old on the head, leg, and arm.

Another member of the family, an older sister, ran into her room and called the police. When the officers arrived at the house, the young man was arrested and admitted the assault claiming that he did not hit her “very hard” but refused to give the reason for the assault.

240,000 young people in Sweden with migrant backgrounds live under oppressive ‘honour’ culture. https://t.co/adNIukTC0B — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 30, 2017

So-called “honour-culture” has become a heated topic in Sweden and as many as 240,000 young people from migrant backgrounds are said to be affected by it.

Dilek Baladiz, a manager at a centre for victims of honour violence, has claimed that the number of young women seeking help has dramatically increased in recent years, up 50 per cent since the height of the migrant crisis in 2015.

“In some areas there is repression. The more compatriots in an area, the more pressure there is to live according to the norms of honour and the more watchful eyes,” Baladiz said noting that the issue was much more prevalent in Sweden’s heavily migrant-populated suburbs.

In 2016, many were concerned after a number of stickers appeared in various towns across the country which said: “Women who don’t wear a headscarf are asking to be raped.”

Islamisation fears were also raised earlier this week when a Muslim group in Växjö demanded to be able to publicly broadcast a call to prayer on Fridays. The request was met with support from the local Church of Sweden Bishop Fredrik Modeus who said he was “looking forward” to hearing the call alongside church bells.