The despotic enforcers of Iran’s “hijab law” have claimed another victim in the name of religion. In a mysterious incident reported a few weeks ago in international press, a young woman Armita Geravand, just 16 was injured going into the Tehran Metro in Iran. She was in a coma for a few weeks and has since died. Her death takes place a year after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini which unleashed a flurry of protests in Iran: Mahsa was taken into custody, sustained injuries in some sort of mysterious way, and then died in the hands of the police not long after. Same story.
Women who defy Iran’s mandatory headscarf-wearing, or hijab, law is a clear sign that they are unhappy with the Iranian regime. Iran is a theocracy that disappears environmental activists, whistleblowers, journalists (one we interviewed was later disappeared) and people who practice homosexuality. You will even go to jail if you dance in an Instagram or TikTok video in Iran. Or if you try to save lakes, like the protestors working to save Lake Urmia from dying up.
Iran drafted a Hijab and Chastity Bill—which is a draft law consisting of 70 articles—all which would increase punishments for those seen wearing a “western” dress code, and which challenges the ethics put in place by the Islamic Republic. Increased fines and jail time, and AI cameras to catch the violators is part of the Morality Police code of tools.
What happened to Geravand when she entered the train on October 1 remains a big question. A friend told a local TV station that she hit her head on the platform, but soundless footage offers no clues and it is likely that those who truly know are afraid of being silenced with a gun –– the same “silencing” that will happen to you in Gaza if you do not comply with the Hamas code, which is rule of the jungle.
TIME offers a great background on the law and how it can be enforced in Iran.
According to the Norway-based human rights group Hengaw which interviewed her two friends, Geravand was assaulted by the morality police for not wearing a head covering. She fell and hit her head and was admitted into the hospital with “severe brain injuries”. The Iranian regime have denied any physical confrontation took place. They said she fainted from low blood pressure, a similar stance taken after Mahsa Amini was murdered for the same offence.
Iran has a thing for policing modesty. If you are a woman in Iran your life can be a nightmare if you choose not to wear the Muslim traditional head-covering called the hijab. You can also go to jail (for 20 years) for dancing on social media.
Iran has a reputation for evaporating people, or for whisking them away and brainwashing them until they lose a part of themselves like the Godfather of blogging Hossein Derakhshan we interviewed in the past –– or Soheil Arabi who was sentenced to death for his Facebook posts.
What the footage did catch is Geravand’s limp body being carried away. Now she is dead for wanting her her free hair to blow in the wind.
This video shows why
#ArmitaGaravand, Iranian schoolgirl got beaten by hijab police & killed.
Cameras are everywhere to identify & arrest unveiled women. But see how bravely she was walking unveiled to show her resistance to forced hijab.
She’s a hero.— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) October 28, 2023
Iranian journalist activist Masih Alinejad writes on X: “This regime excels at suppressing and killing women, all while negotiating and forging ties with Western politicians. How many more innocent girls need to perish before Western countries realize that this regime is irredeemable?
“This is the very regime that not only oppresses its citizens but also instigates unrest in Ukraine, Israel, Iraq, and Syria. After decades of atrocities by this totalitarian Islamic regime, the world must finally take a stand and hold them accountable.”
More on Iran’s modesty police:
Skater Niloufar Mardani threatened for not wearing head covering
Spend 20 years in prison if you dance in public in Iran
AI will find your fre
#mahsaamini
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