Morality Police Hit Iranian Woman in Head, Killing Her, Relatives Say

The Iranian Kurdish woman who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police was killed by a “violent blow to the head,” according to her cousin. Mahsa Amini, 22, who was visiting Tehran with her family, was detained by the country’s morality police for not wearing her hijab properly and died several days later in a Tehran hospital. Erfan Salih Mortezaee, Amini’s cousin who lives in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, told the news agency AFP that her cousin, who was about to start university, was “dressed normally” and was wearing her hijab when she was arrested. Amini’s brother told their cousin that the police officer told him that they were going to take Amini in, “instill the rules in her and teach her how to wear the hijab and how to dress.” Mortezaee said that the police officers hit Amini in front of her brother and sprayed him in the face with pepper spray. During their ride to the police station, officers hit Amini in the head and she lost consciousness, her brother told Mortezaee. It took nearly two hours for the police to send transfer Amini to a hospital, her relatives say. Iranian authorities have denied all involvement in Amini’s death. Iran has been engulfed in nearly two weeks of violent protest since Amini’s death. Several dozen protesters have been killed and some 1,200 arrested, according to reports.