A 22-year-old woman has died in an Iranian hospital days after being detained by the regime’s morality police for allegedly not complying with the country’s hijab regulations.
Mahsa Amini was traveling with her family from Iran’s western province of Kurdistan to the capital, Tehran, to visit relatives when she was reportedly arrested for failing to meet the country’s strict rules on women’s dress.
Witnesses reported that Amini was beaten in the police van, an allegation the police deny. The police later said that Amini had suffered a heart attack. Amini’s family disputed this, however, and said she was healthy and had not been experiencing any health problems
Raisi signed a decree on 15 August clamping down on women’s dress and stipulating harsher punishments for violating the strict code, both in public and online. Women have been arrested across the country after the national “hijab and chastity day” declared on 12 July. One of the women was Sepideh Rashno, a writer and artist who was reportedly beaten and tortured in custody before making a forced apology on television.
Human rights groups have reported that extra security forces have been deployed outside Kasra hospital.
