Mahsa Amini fell into a coma while in detention in Tehran after being arrested by officials enforcing the severe hijab regulations of the country.
In a show of resistance, Iranian rights campaigners have urged women to remove their veils in public over the past few months. The gesture may result in the arrest of women who break the Islamic clothing code.
In Iran, protests have erupted following the death of a young woman following her imprisonment by the morality police.
According to police, the 22-year-old was transported to the hospital after allegedly suffering a heart attack.
An uncle of Ms. Amini, according to pro-reform news websites, stated that she had no history of heart illness.
According to official media, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has requested that the incident’s cause be probed with “urgency and special care.”
According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran, Ms. Amini was visiting her relatives in Tehran on Tuesday when she was arrested for her “supposed unsuitable hijab.”
“Her family was informed that she was being taken for education and would be released that evening,” the organization stated.
Officers found fault with her hijab, or headscarf, according to social media postings.
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women in Iran are required to wear headscarves, and officers of the morality police enforce the tight clothing code.
In a show of resistance, Iranian rights campaigners have urged women to remove their veils in public over the past few months. The gesture may result in the arrest of women who break the Islamic clothing code.
Following her death, social media photos depicted protesters yelling “death to the dictator (Khamenei)” while car horns blared in a Tehran square near the hospital where she died.
Friday, police stated that there was no aggression or physical contact between officers and Ms. Amini during her detention.
Police also showed other detainees CCTV footage that appeared to show Ms. Amini inside a police station.
At one point, she rises from a chair, approaches another woman, grips her head with both hands, falls against a chair, and collapses.
She is seen being transported away on a stretcher in another clip.
Our children are passing away.
The death of Ms. Amini has been condemned by Iranian celebrities, athletes, and other public figures.
Former pro-reform president Mohammad Khatami branded the morality police’s behavior as a “disaster,” while US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley described the episode as “appalling.
He continued, “Those responsible for her death should be held accountable.”
Ali Karimi, a renowned ex-football player, stated that while the children of high-ranking government officials are fleeing the nation, “our children are dying.”
This is not the first time the morality police of the country has been criticized.
In recent years, it has been criticized for its treatment of people, especially young women, as evidenced by online videos depicting officers forcibly loading women into police trucks.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, has advocated for a more lenient stance toward women who do not adhere to the official dress code.
However, extremists have called for harsh punishments, including lashings, saying that permitting women to display their hair leads to moral deterioration and family breakdown.
Since 2017, following a wave of protests in which dozens of women removed their headscarves in public, the authorities have imposed stricter procedures.
