A young Iranian woman died Friday after slipping into a coma after she was arrested yesterday (Wednesday) by the vice police in Tehran, according to her family and state television, prompting activists to demand that those responsible for her “suspicious” death be prosecuted. accountable and brought to justice.
Mahsa Amini, 22, was with her family in Tehran when she was stopped on Wednesday by a police unit tasked with enforcing strict dress codes for women, including the wearing of the headscarf.
“Unfortunately, she died and her body was transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine,” Mahsa state television reported on Friday.
Farsi-speaking media outlets, including Iranware and Sharq newspapers, cite reports from her family that this week, hours after her arrest, she was taken to the hospital in a coma and is now dead. .
It was not immediately clear what happened between the young woman’s arrival at the police station and her transfer to the hospital. The Tasmir 1500 channel, which monitors violations in Iran, reported that the young woman had been hit on the head.
Photos posted on social media show crowds outside the hospital where she was being treated as police tried to disperse the crowd.
“The circumstances leading to the suspicious death of 22-year-old Amini, including allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in detention, should be investigated criminally,” Amnesty International said.
She added that “the so-called ‘vice police’ in Tehran arbitrarily arrested her three days before her death, using the country’s abusive, degrading and discriminatory mandatory veil laws. All agents and officials involved must be brought to justice.”
Prominent Iranian lawyer Said Dehghan tweeted that Amini’s death was a “murder”, saying she had received a blow to the head, resulting in the base of her skull being fractured.
On Friday, state television aired footage allegedly showing her falling to the ground in a large hall full of women while arguing with an official about her clothes.
In a Friday statement, Tehran police stressed that there was no “physical contact” between the officers and Amini.
She added that Amini was among several women taken to the police station on Tuesday to receive “instructions” about the dress code.
The statement said that Amini “suddenly passed out while she was with others in the hall.”
Before announcing the death, the Iranian president indicated in a statement that President Ibrahim Raisi had instructed the interior minister to investigate the matter.
Several MPs said they would raise the issue in parliament, and the judiciary, through its Mizan news agency, announced the formation of a special commission of inquiry.
Hadi Ghaemi, head of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, called her death “a tragedy that could have been prevented.”
“The Iranian government is responsible,” he said. “She was arrested under a coercive and discriminatory hijab law and died in custody.”
Amini’s death comes amid a growing debate inside and outside of Iran over the behavior of the vice police.
In July, a video of a woman standing in front of a vice van calling for the release of her daughter went viral on social media.
The veiled woman continued to hold on to the car even after it started moving, before escaping the car by accelerating.
Also in July, Iranian girl Speedy Rahno disappeared after she had an argument on a bus in Tehran with a woman who accused her of taking off her veil.
She was detained by the Revolutionary Guards before going on television to make a confession that activists thought was a forced confession before she was released on bail in late August.
Activists accuse Iran of cracking down on all sectors of society, including new crackdowns on the Baha’i religious minority, death sentences for homosexuals, increased death sentences and arrests of foreign nationals.
After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the law required all women, regardless of nationality or religious beliefs, to wear a headscarf covering their head and neck.
