State media in Iran say teenager Armita Geravand is ‘brain dead’ after falling into a coma following an alleged altercation with morality police.
The police say she fainted – but activists say the 16-year-old was assaulted for not wearing a hijab.
Human rights group Hengaw, which focuses on Iran’s Kurdish ethnic minority, alleged that Armita ‘sustained severe injuries’ while being ‘physically attacked by authorities… for what they perceived as non-compliance with the compulsory “hijab”’.
According to the BBC, Geravand collapsed after boarding a Tehran metro train on 1 October.
CCTV footage released by Iranian authorities shows Armita Geravand, with her hair uncovered, boarding a train at Tehran’s Shohada station with two other girls. Moments later, one of the girls backs out of the train and bends down.
She and several other passengers are then seen carrying an unconscious Armita by her arms and legs before laying her down on the platform.
No footage from inside the train or the entrance to the station was released.
The teenager is being treated at Tehran’s Fajr hospital under tight security.
The report says many Iranians have drawn parallels with the case of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in custody in September 2022 after being detained by morality police in Tehran for allegedly wearing her hijab ‘improperly’. Authorities attributed her death to pre-existing medical conditions, but witnesses said she was beaten by officers.
Anti-government protests, which are still taking place, erupted across the country when Amini died after three days in a coma. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands detained in a violent crackdown by security forces.