An Iranian woman stripped down to her underwear in protest over hijab laws before allegedly being attacked by police as she was arrested and ‘taken to a mental hospital’.
The young unidentified woman was seen in footage walking around the campus of Tehran’s Islamic Azad University science and research branch on Saturday before security guards detained her.
The widely circulated video on social media shows the woman sitting and pacing back and forth with her arms crossed around the campus in her underwear.
Another clip captured the moment she was detained by security forces and forcibly taken into a car.
University spokesperson Amir Mahjoub confirmed the arrest on X, saying: ‘Following an indecent act by a student at the science and research branch of the university, campus security intervened and handed the individual over to law enforcement authorities.
An unidentified female student was arrested on Saturday in Iran after she was spotted walking around the campus of Tehran’s Islamic Azad University science and research branch in her underwear
The brave act was an apparent protest against the country’s strict Islamic dress code
The student reportedly sustained severe injuries following the assault during her arrest
‘The motives and underlying reasons for the student’s actions are currently under investigation’.
According to Reuters, Mahjoub also added that: ‘at the police station,…it was found that she was under severe mental pressure and had a mental disorder’.
But some social media users suggested the woman’s action was a deliberate protest.
‘For most women, being …in their underwear in public is one of their worst nightmares, … This is a reaction to the (authorities’) stupid insistence on the mandatory hijab,’ a user on X, said in a comment accompanying the video.
The student reportedly sustained severe injuries following the assault during her arrest, Iran International reported, citing a newsletter by the student group Amir Kabir newsletter.
It said the student was ‘disrobed after being harassed for not wearing a headscarf and having her clothing torn by security forces’.
‘Blood stains from the student were reportedly seen on the car’s tyres,’ the newsletter said, adding that her head was struck either by a car door or a pillar which caused heavy bleeding.
The fate of the woman was not known but the mass-circulation daily Hamshahri said on its website: ‘An informed source said…the perpetrator of this act has severe mental problems and, after investigations, she will most likely be transferred to a mental hospital’.
These claims, however, have not yet been confirmed.
People in support of the Iranian community take part in the Freedom Rally for Iran demonstration against the Iranian regime on February 22, 2023 in Rome, Italy
Mahsa Amini, 22, died on September 16, three days after falling into a coma following her arrest
Amini died in custody after not observing Iran’s ultra-conservative dress code, causing outrage across the country and beyond
Amnesty International’s Iran branch called on the Iranian authorities to ‘immediately and unconditionally’ release the student who was brutally detained on Saturday.
‘Pending her release, authorities must protect her from torture and other ill-treatment & ensure access to family and lawyer,’ it said in a post on X.
‘Allegations of beatings and sexual violence against her during arrest need independent & impartial investigations. Those responsible must held to account,’ it continued.
Growing numbers of women have defied authorities by discarding their veils after nationwide protests that followed the death in September 2022 of a young Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules.
Mahsa Amini, 22, died after being captured by morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly.
Her death spearheaded mass protests known as ‘Women. life, freedom’ which lasted months in the country.
A year later, in October 2023, an Iranian teenager named Armita Geravand was injured in a suspicious incident on Tehran’s metro while not wearing a head covering.
She later died in the hospital after falling into a coma.