COLUMBIA, Mo. – A former University of Missouri graduate teaching assistant was arrested on felony child abuse charges for allegedly dragging a female relative by her hair and slapping her face for not wearing a hijab.

Youssif Omar, 53, was at Columbia’s Hickman High School around 3 p.m. last Tuesday when he allegedly noticed a 14-year-old female relative was not wearing the Muslim head scarf and took matters into his own hands, the Columbia Daily Tribune reports.

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Several news sites reported Omar is a professor at the University of Missouri, and he describes himself as an assistant professor at the school on his LinkedIn page, but university officials tweeted a clarification Sunday in response to a New York Daily News report.

“Mr. Omar is not employed at Mizzou,” according to the message from the university’s official Twitter page. “He was formerly a graduate student with an assistantship. Job ended in July.”

Columbia police arrested Omar at his home in Columbia Wednesday evening. He later posted a $4,500 bond and was released.

Columbia police contend Omar became irate when he witnessed his young relative without her hijab and grabbed her “very violently by the hair” and pulled her down a flight of stairs. A teacher who witnessed the incident told police Omar slapped the girl in the face and pulled her into his car by the hair, KRGC reports.

Omar’s now defunct Facebook page showed he is married and lives in Columbia, though he’s originally from Benghazi, Libya, according to The Blaze.

“On the Facebook page is a photo of a Mizzou class with includes Omar, along with his comment: ‘Last day of class Thursday, May 7, 2015 with my students from left to right: Nadav, Luke, Ian, Jeniez, Kayel, Estafania, Sadiga, Jack, Bilal, Taylor, Eizabila, and Kate. It was a good class. I am fully proud of all of you,’” the news site reports.

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His Facebook page also featured a video of Omar giving an academic presentation in Hawaii in which he describes himself as an “assistant professor” of foreign languages at the University of Missouri. His current LinkedIn page lists his current position at Mizzou as “Manger (sic) of Artifacts Journal” at the school’s bookstore.

The New York Daily News reports the reference is to Omar’s role as editor of the school’s cultural journal, Artifacts, and noted a recent editor’s note in which Omar wrote about being open-minded to others’ cultures.

“It is very hard for some people to be away from their own culture because they find themselves confined to the deep-rooted beliefs and customs they acquired and learned from the communities in which they were born and raised,” he wrote.

“Such people see themselves as fish taken away from the water.”

The hajib incident, of course, sparked outrage online.

“Religion of peace,” Tyrone Washington posted to the New York Daily News site.

“And he’s supposed to be an educated man,” Rich London added. “What a joke.”

“Can’t be forgetting that hijab,” Dragonfly1 posted to the Columbia Tribune site. “Don’t want all those teenage boys having filthy thoughts about her hair. Good grief.”

“Wow, I hope this girl is not at home having to deal with him right now,” heybabykg wrote. “Hopefully, they have found a better place for her to stay.”

“I can respect your customs,” Bad Puppy posted, “but you better respect our laws.”