According to initial reports, the tram driver made an announcement via his loudspeaker, saying that anybody wearing a headscarf should get off the tram.
The girl reported that none of the other tram passengers came to her aid, and she was forced to get off the tram. She told an adult about the incident, which occurred on Tuesday afternoon, and the adult reported it to the police.
On Wednesday the police confirmed they are investigating the complaint, and a spokeswoman for the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) public transport company said that they are examining the tram's CCTV recordings.
However, the story took an unexpected turn on Thursday as BVG spokeswoman Petra Reetz told the Berliner Morgenpost that the CCTV recording and a witness report from another passenger appear to show that in fact, the girl was not asked to leave the tram because of her headscarf, but because she was eating a kebab.
"The recording shows two girls getting on the tram. They sit down, get their kebabs out and start to eat them. Then, they look in the direction of the loudspeaker, as the driver is making an announcement that you aren't allowed to eat on the tram," Reetz said.
"I was standing opposite the girl when she was ordered off the tram. She sat on the tram and was leisurely eating a kebab … the tram driver warned several times that eating food is banned. As a result, her friend put her kebab away, whilst she carried on eating and didn't take any notice of what the driver said. After he had repeated himself three times he said that the girl with the white headscarf needs to get off and eat her kebab outside. It was no more than that," the witness wrote, according to a screenshot published by the Berliner Morgenpost.
On Friday the Berlin police declined to comment on the incident, as their investigation is continuing.
