Iranian Teenager Dies Weeks After Incident Said To Be Over Her Lack of Hijab
A 16-year-old Iranian girl has died in a hospital intensive care unit in Tehran, four weeks after suffering a serious head injury during an incident at a Tehran metro station.
Human rights organizations and activists say that Armita Geravand was harassed by government agents for not wearing a hijab, the mandatory headscarf required under Iranian law. The Iranian government has denied this, saying she experienced a drop in blood pressure that caused her to fall and hit her head.
Security camera footage released by the Iranian authorities shows Armita Geravand and two school friends on Oct. 1 at the Shohada metro station, where Geravand boarded a metro car. A moment later, one of her friends can be seen backing away, and someone appears to have fallen. Geravand is then seen being carried out of the car unconscious. What happened inside the car is unknown; the authorities said there were no cameras inside the car.
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State media also released an interview with Geravand’s parents, who said she fell. Activists say the parents may have been filmed under duress.
Amnesty International has called on the Iranian government to allow an independent investigation into Geravand’s death.
The incident comes a year after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly disobeying the mandatory hijab rules. Amini’s death sparked widespread protests across Iran for months.
In September, Iranian lawmakers passed a new “hijab and chastity” bill laying out harsher penalties for those who violate the dress laws, especially women. The Guardian Council, a powerful oversight body of clerics and legal experts, must approve the bill before it can be implemented.
Iran’s strict dress code, imposed with the 1979 revolution, prohibits women from wearing “revealing or tight clothing, or clothing that shows parts of the body lower than the neck or above the ankles or above the forearms,” and mandates covering their hair with a hijab. Penalties for breaches range from fines to prison terms. In recent months, authorities have acted to counter the increasing numbers of women who have thrown off their hijabs, including impounding vehicles and closing down businesses that offer services to women deemed to be violating the dress code.
