Mahsa Amini, who is also known as China/Jina Amini, was an Iranian woman who was arrested by the Guidance Patrol of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a special police squad that is in charge of public implementation of Islamic hijab regulations, because of her hijab not meet the government’s mandatory Hijab standards.
She, who is just 22 years old, fell into a coma last week, hours after morality police held her for allegedly breaking hijab rules.
In recent times, Iran has witnessed several campaigns against the compulsory hijab, but a crackdown by Iran’s morality police on women accused of not complying with the dress code has reasoned opponents of the policy to call for action.
Several people accused the unjust actions of the police and claim that the accused harassed and assaulted her. The accused denied these ‘baseless accusations.
Her death has invoked protests in the capital and western Iran, wherein two people were reportedly killed in the clashing with riot police on Monday.
Videos uploaded on social media appeared to show a crowd throwing stones in the town of Divandarreh and then running after the invasion of fire.
Other footage showed portrayals of protests in the capital, where women removed their headscarves and shouted: “death to the dictator” – a chant which is often used about their Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ms. Amini, who was an ethnic Kurd from the western city of Saqez in Kurdistan province, died in hospital on Friday after lying for three days in a coma.
She was detained outside a metro station in Tehran on Tuesday by the morality police. They accused her of breaking the law which required women to cover their hair with a headscarf, and their arms and legs with loose clothing.
According to witnesses, she was assaulted while she was inside a police van that took her to a detention center.
Denial of accusations Mahsa Amini & morality police
The Police conveniently rejected the allegation and said she suffered from “sudden heart failure” while waiting with other women at the facility to be “educated”.
They released CCTV footage that showed a woman they identified as Ms. Amini speaking with a female official, who grabs her clothing. She is then seen to be holding her head with her hands and collapsing to the ground.
The interior minister spoke on the issue on Saturday that Ms. Amini “apparently had previous physical problems”.
Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s hardline president, has summoned the ministry of the interior to launch an investigation into her death.
Kasra Hospital in Northern Tehran said in a statement that Ms. Amini was admitted on 13 September showing “no vital signs”.
The statement was later removed from the hospital’s social media after hardline social media accounts alleged that the hospital staff was being “anti-regime agents”.
However, her father spoke to pro-reform news outlets on Sunday that she was “fit and had no health problems”. He also said his daughter had suffered bruising to her legs and claimed that the CCTV footage showed an “edited version” of the actual events.
On Monday, Brig-Gen Rahimi expressed sympathy to Ms. Amini’s family but insisted that she suffered no physical harm.
“The evidence shows that there was no negligence or inappropriate behaviour on the part of the police,” he told reporters.
The death triggered several and widespread criticisms of the actions of the morality police, which recently launched a breakdown on “improper clothing”.
Protests erupted in Saqez after Amini’s funeral on Saturday, with security forces reportedly opening fire on a crowd that marched towards the local governor’s office.
There were also clashes between protesters and riot police in Sanandaj, Kurdistan’s capital, on Saturday and Sunday.
Kurdish human rights group Hengaw said on Sunday that at least 38 people were injured in the two cities.
Hengaw reported the deaths of two protesters following Monday’s clashes in Divandarreh, which is located between Saqez and Sanandaj. It was also stated that a 10-year-old girl was shot in the head in Bukan, a city in West Azerbaijan province.
In the past few months, Iranian state TV has showcased televised confessions of women arrested for not complying with the strict dress code.
Many Iranians blame the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, for the crackdown. A speech from his side is being shared on social media in which he praises the significance of the morality police and the way it operates. See What happened to Iran Protests after a Woman dies in Custody?
