The head was discovered by a University of WA student in the mosque’s bathroom on Sunday afternoon, with the find later confirmed by the UWA guild.
The student, Majdi Fal, said the traditional Turkish toilet was used mostly by Muslims for ablutions before prayers.
“Needless to say, if this happened at a university, then things are escalating,” he posted on social media. He told 6PR it was a frightening sight, designed to make the bathroom’s users feel unwelcome and intimidate them.
“I believe that it’s a message to a minority but specifically to - possibly - the ones who are closer to that space because you have the prayer room close to that bathroom.
“It’s probably a message of saying `you’re not welcome here’.” He said it was particularly alarming a university had been targeted but was confident the institution’s authorities would do their best to find out who did it.
“It threatens not only a minority group ... but the diversity of the university.” In a statement, the UWA Guild condemned the incident and said it was investigating the “unprecedented display of Islamophobia”. “Acts like this are designed only to incite religious and racial hatred.” A police spokeswoman said several lines of enquiry were being pursued.
It was important not to jump to conclusions about motive as the toilet was a public space, she said.
In November last year, the head, limbs and guts of a pig were dumped at the Masjid Ibrahim Islamic Mosque in the Perth suburb of Southern River.
A week earlier, the entrance to the Ar-Rukun Mosque in Rockingham was splashed with white paint.
The Australian