The family of an 11-year-old girl who falsely claimed that her hijab was cut by an attacker in an incident last week that captured national attention has expressed their “sincere apologies to every Canadian.”

At the time, the family said they “assumed it to be true just like everyone else.”

The family shared a statement of apology with the Star. It came two days after the conclusion of the police investigation into the allegations, finding that the events “did not happen.”

The incident prompted a widespread backlash on social media condemning the false story.

The family said they were “deeply sorry for the pain and anger caused in the past several days.”

They declined requests for an interview. The Star has chosen not to name the girl.

The family expressed gratitude toward Pauline Johnson Junior Public School which, they said, “reacted with compassion and support.”

They were called to the school near Birchmount Rd. and Sheppard Ave. E. on Friday morning with the news of an alleged assault against their daughter and the family spoke to the media a few hours later at the school’s library.

Justin Trudeau was questioned over his response to an 11-year-old girl’s claim that a man cut her hijab, which police are now calling untrue. The prime minister says it's important to remind people Canada defends religious freedoms. (The Canadian Press)

Read more:

Attack on a girl wearing a hijab didn’t happen, police say. But why did the TDSB let the tearful 11-year-old face the cameras?

Opinion | Shree Paradkar: A girl’s hijab story isn’t true. But we’d be fools to believe anti-Muslim hatred doesn’t exist in Canada

TDSB did not discuss implications of letting 11-year-old face media over hijab story

The girl, her 10-year-old brother and her mother spoke to reporters. Her grandmother was also present.

The 11-year-old’s public appearance was unusual — victims of crime under the age of 18 are usually not identified by police or the media.

The assaults that she claimed happened just before 9 a.m. rapidly drew the condemnation of all three levels of government, and were written about around the world.

In their statement, the family said they chose to make the story public, “horrified that there was such a perpetrator who may try to harm someone else.”

Now, days later, they hope to move past, what they describe as “a very painful experience.”

“We look forward to closing this difficult chapter and providing support to our children.”

The full statement:

“We are deeply sorry for the pain and anger that our family has caused in the past several days.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

When our young daughter told the school that she was attacked by a stranger, the school reacted with compassion and support — as did the police.

When we arrived at the school on Friday, we were informed what happened and assumed it to be true, just like everyone else. We only went public because we were horrified that there was such a perpetrator who may try to harm someone else.

This has been a very painful experience for our family. We want to thank everyone who has shown us support at this difficult time. Again, we are deeply sorry for this and want to express our sincere apologies to every Canadian.

We look forward to closing this difficult chapter and providing support to our children.”