Iranian girl in critical condition after alleged encounter over hijab, activists say

Oct 4 (Reuters) – An Iranian teenaged girl is in critical condition in hospital, two prominent rights activists told Reuters on Wednesday, after falling into a coma following what they said was a confrontation with agents in the Tehran metro for violating the hijab law.

While authorities have denied claims by rights groups that Armita Garawand or  Geravand went into a coma on Sunday after a confrontation with officers enforcing the Islamic dress code, Iranian-Kurdish rights group Hengaw posted her picture unconscious at a Tehran hospital where she was taken after the incident.

There was no immediate response from Iran’s interior ministry to a request for comment about the incident.

“We are following her case closely. She is in coma at Intensive Care Unit of the hospital and her condition is critical … her relatives said there is a heavy presence of plain clothes at the hospital,” one of the activists in Iran said.

The second activist said security forces had forbidden Geravand’s parents from posting her picture on social media or from talking to human rights groups. The activists spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The Iranian authorities have denied the report and claimed that Ms Geravand “fainted” because of low blood pressure, leading her to hit the side of the train carriage. “Rumours about a physical confrontation with metro agents are not true,” Masood Dorosti, the managing director of the Tehran subway system told the Fars news agency.

CCTV footage, shared on IRNA, showed Ms Geravand not wearing a mandatory hijab, accompanied by two female friends walking toward a train from the metro platform. After 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.

New patrols policing hijab-compliance in Tehran’s metro system were rolled out in August by Alireza Zakani, the city’s ultra-conservative mayor who is a former leader of the Basij militia.

This is the clip of video released by official IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) Video of Miss Geravand getting onto the train, and from inside the train will exist but has not been released.  I do not know who is speaking over the film or what he is saying.

Iran – Armita Garawand, 16 years old girl was beaten by morality police in Tehran subway for not wearing a hijab and is allegedly now in coma in Air Force Hospital under strict security #ArmitaGarawand #IranRevoIution #Russia #Ukraine #UkraineWar pic.twitter.com/58pTPV2xvf

— Skënderbeü_ (@AncientAlien01) October 4, 2023

Her parents have been interviewed by IRNA and say that they are happy that it was an accident and that their daughter hit her head during  fainting fit. There is a strong suspicion that they made this statement under duress. 

That a 16 year old girl is in hospital tonight in a serious condition is not in doubt.