Chinese lady, 89, attacked in New York & has shirt set on fire by 2 men she had never met before

An 89-year-old Asian woman was slapped in the face before having her clothes lit on fire in New York.

Speaking to ABC7, the woman said that she had never spoken a word to the two men who attacked her.

The woman, who was speaking in Cantonese, recalled how she had just left her home in Brooklyn on July 14 when the two men approached her.

One of the men slapped her in the face, and the back of her shirt was lit on fire as she tried to escape, reported NBC New York.

The woman told ABC7 that she did not initially know what the sharp pain in her back was but quickly pulled her hair up so it wouldn't burn.

She then rubbed her back against a wall to put out the flames.

The woman said that she did not disclose the incident to her family until the next day as she did not want them to worry.NBC New York reported that thankfully, the woman was not seriously injured. However, the suspects were able to get away.

A hate crime?

New York Police Department has put out CCTV footage of the two men believed to be involved with the assault.

The woman said that she had never met them before.

They also did not attempt to steal anything from her during the attack.

Community leader Don Lee was quoted by ABC7 as condemning the attack and labelling it a racially motivated "hate crime".

"There are a lot of other people who live in this neighbourhood but they purposely picked — two individuals purposely picked on an Asian woman, Asian senior to commit this heinous crime," he said.

Board members from the woman's community centre and other members of the community have put up a US$10,000 (S$13,791) reward for information that might lead to an arrest.

However, police have said that at the moment, there is no evidence that she was specifically targeted and no derogatory remarks were made by the assailants.

Top image from NYPD's Twitter and CeFaan Kim/ABC7's Facebook page