Iran: Morality police withdrawn from Tehran's metro system after teenage girl 'attacked' for not wearing hijab

Iran has withdrawn the morality police from Tehran’s metro system after a 16-year-old girl went into a coma for allegedly being beaten over not wearing a hijab. The victim, Armita Gravand is currently in critical condition and is undergoing treatment in a government hospital in the capital city. Her family and relatives have reportedly not been allowed to visit the hospital, sources told The Telegraph. In August, the government in Iran deployed the morality police on metro premises as ordered by Tehran’s ultra-conservative mayor Alireza Zakani. However, a Kurdish rights group called ‘Hengaw’ claimed, “none of the morality police officers present on the day of Armita’s incident have reported for duty”. The group also said that Armita’s mother Shaheen Ahmadi was not allowed to visit her daughter in the hospital and was arrested for even trying.

Ominously reminiscent to #MahsaAmini’s situation last year, this graphic video shows 16-year-old #ArmitaGravand who was reportedly attacked by hijab enforcers on Tehran’s metro for not covering her hair & is now in a coma. #WomanLifeFreedom #زن_زندگى_آزادىpic.twitter.com/7CqyAzSaSR

— Jonathan Harounoff (@JonathanHaroun1) October 3, 2023

“Shaheen Ahmadi was arrested and transferred to an unknown place in the premises of Tehran’s Fajr Hospital,” it said, citing an unnamed source. These claims were dismissed by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, saying that they are “completely false.” Gravand suffered “severe injuries” on Sunday after she was allegedly dragged out of a train at the Shohada Station in Tehran. The incident raised concerns across the world for being too similar to the case of Mahsa Amini, 22, who died in police custody last year. Media reports suggest that Iranian authorities have imposed a blanket ban on the coverage of the case involving Gravand. “While the world is negotiating with the oppressive regime of Iran and legitimising and giving it a platform, history is repeating itself,” Nazanin Bonyadi, an actress and human rights activist said. The world has come together to condemn Iran’s hardline hijab rules. On Wednesday, the UK and the US, along with 40 European countries, condemned Iran’s new “chastity and hijab” law at a United Nations Human Rights Council session.