The brutal Iranian morality police are being blamed for the death of another young woman. A 16-year-old girl is reported to have been attacked on a train and ended up hospitalized in a coma before she died.
A parallel is being drawn between the death of Armita Geravand and Mahsa Amini. Amini was the 22-year-old woman whose death while in the custody of the morality police brought on a protest movement in Iran. She was visiting Tehran with her family when she was taken into custody for not wearing a head scarf properly. It is alleged she was beaten in jail and died of the injuries she sustained.
Armita Geravand was injured weeks ago in an incident on Tehran’s Metro. She was not wearing a hijab when morality police boarded the train. State media is reporting today that after weeks in a coma, she has died. A human rights group accuses female morality police officers for the ‘severe injuries’ that followed a ‘physical assault.’
Hengaw, a Norway-based Kurdish human rights NGO, claimed that Mc Geravand was attacked by hijab officers in Shohada Station, a stop on the city’s metro, for not wearing a hijab, which all women in Iran are meant to wear under strict morality laws.
While Ms Geravand’s friend told Iranian state television that she hit her head on the station’s platform, the soundless footage aired by the broadcaster from outside of the car is blocked by a bystander.
Just seconds later, her limp body is carried off.
Ms Geravand’s mother and father appeared in state media footage saying a blood pressure issue, a fall or perhaps both contributed to their daughter’s injury.
Unverified CCTV footage, shared to local media earlier this month, appears to show the teenager walking towards the train without a hijab on with two of her friends.
Upon entering the cabin, one of the girls is seen immediately backing off and reaching for the ground before another girl is dragged unconscious from the cabin by passengers.
Several passengers can be seen gathering around to watch the girl be carried off.
Hengaw shared a photo of a young girl, allegedly Armita, lying in a hospital bed connected to medical equipment. An Iranian news agency reports that she was brought to the hospital in a comatose state. She needed CPR as she had stopped breathing or her heart stopped.
History is repeating itself; this is the reality of the Islamic regime in #Iran.#ArmitaGarawand #MahsaAmini pic.twitter.com/AB1n8095ys
— Sarah Raviani (@sarahraviani) October 3, 2023
“Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise.” — #ArmitaGaravand
The Islamic Republic of #Iran killed 16-year-old Armita Garavand. The regime went to great lengths to cover up her story, silence her family and friends, and stop the world from knowing who she was.
So,… pic.twitter.com/KhLjrZ84P0
— Sarah Raviani (@sarahraviani) October 25, 2023
Iranian officials deny any role in her death. Tehran Metro Operating Company claims that CCTV footage does not show signs of verbal or physical conflict between passengers and company employees. Activists demand an independent investigation by the U.N. Activists believe that the Iranian theocracy is using pressure on Geravand’s family to remain silent.
She was treated at Tehran’s Fajr Hospital under tight security.
‘Unfortunately, the brain damage to the victim caused her to spend some time in a coma and she died a few minutes ago,’ the IRNA reported.
‘According to the official theory of Armita Geravand doctors, after a sudden drop in blood pressure, she suffered a fall, a brain injury, followed by continuous convulsions, decreased cerebral oxygenation and cerebral edema.’
Will Geravand’s Oct. 1 injury and now her death reignite protests throughout Iran against Iran’s theocracy and its draconian control over the lives of women? Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency conveniently reported Geravand’s death, without noting the wider unrest surrounding the headscarf law.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, which reports on abuses in Iran’s western Kurdish region and earlier published a photograph of Geravand in a coma, renewed its calls Saturday for an independent international investigation citing “the practice of the Islamic Republic in concealing the truth.”
“During the last 28 days, the Islamic Republic of Iran tried to distort the narrative of the government murder of this teenage girl,” the group alleged.
The movement for women’s rights against the Iranian regime remains strong. We may see renewed protests in the streets now. The Iranian people are rising, slowly and at great risk, against the regime and that is a good sign for the future.
***UPDATE***
Iranian security forces have confiscated her body. They refuse to allow the family to bury her.
Iranian security forces have confiscated the body of 16-year-old Armita Geravand, who was beaten to death by the morality police for showing her hair in public.
The family was banned from burying her in her hometown.
The regime will bury her in an unmarked grave in Tehran. pic.twitter.com/rVH0VpYrfs
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 28, 2023
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