A 16-year-old girl, who fell into a coma following an assault by morality police officers for wearing her hijab in an improper manner, has been declared 'brain dead', according to state-controlled media, inching closer towards a repeat of Mahsa Amini's case last year.
According to reports, the victim was identified as Armita Garawand and had been badly wounded in a confrontation on the metro with female police officers for not wearing hijab properly. Although it was not clear whether the police assaulted her inside the metro at that time, authorities claimed that the girl "fainted" due to low blood pressure. The authorities said that there was no involvement of the security forces.
CNN reported citing a state-controlled media that Geravand's latest health condition follow-ups indicate "that her condition of being brain dead seems certain despite the efforts of the medical staff." Earlier, a Norway-based human rights organisation said that she was "assaulted" by Iran's morality police.
The female morality police officers had approached Geravand in the metro and asked her to adjust her hijab, according to a member of the organisation. "This request resulted in an altercation with the morality police officers physically assaulting Geravand. She was pushed, leading to her collapse," the staffer said.
According to CNN, Geravand’s friends and family have also denied that she was assaulted and said she was injured due to low blood pressure, though it is unclear if they were coerced into doing so. UN officials and rights groups have previously accused Iranian authorities of pressuring families of killed protesters to make statements supportive of the government narrative.
Mahsa Amini's death
This incident comes a year after the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died on September 16 last year after being arrested on the charges of wearing her hijab improperly. She was reportedly beaten up by officers in the head with a baton after which she called collapsed on the way to a detention centre. Her death provoked widespread protests across Iran, with many refusing to follow the strict dress code.
Since the protests began, at least 529 people have been killed in demonstrations, according to Human Rights activists in Iran. Over 19,700 others have been detained by authorities amid a violent crackdown trying to suppress the dissent.
The Iranian regime faced massive pressure from across the world to outlaw the morality police. However, the Iranian authorities did not alter any laws and charged the West for disturbing the law and order situation in the country. The government passed a 'hijab bill' in September imposing much harsher penalties on women who breach hijab rules, including 10 years in prison.
Iranian authorities have called the protests 'foreign-instigated riots' and seven men have been executed in protest-related cases. In the crackdown against protests, Iranian authorities are said to have extended their reach towards journalists and media professionals as well.
Crackdown on journalists
An Iranian court on Sunday sentenced two female journalists who covered the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last year on charges of "collaborating" with the United States among others. Both journalists were imprisoned for over a year after the coverage of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody.
The journalists have been identified as Niloufar Hamedi, who broke the news of Amini's death apparently for wearing her headscarf loosely, and Elaheh Mohammadi, who wrote about her funeral. They were sentenced to seven and six years of imprisonment respectively, according to Iranian media.
They were charged with "collaborating with the hostile American government", "colluding against national security" and "propaganda against the system" after their detainment in September 2022.
However, this is a preliminary sentencing that can be appealed in 20 days. Hamedi and Mohammadi were awarded the UN premier prize for press freedom "for their commitment to truth and accountability" in May.
(with agency inputs)
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