Armita Geravand, a teenage Iranian girl who was allegedly assaulted by the country’s morality police for not wearing a headscarf has been declared “brain dead,” according to state-controlled media.
According to activists, Armita Geravand, 16, was hospitalized with head injuries after the alleged assault at a Tehran metro station earlier this month, just weeks after Iran passed draconian legislation imposing much harsher penalties on women who violate the country’s already strict hijab rules.
“Follow-ups on the latest health condition of Armita Geravand indicate that her condition of being brain dead seems certain despite the efforts of the medical staff,” the state-aligned Tasnim news agency reported Sunday.
The teenager was “assaulted” by morality police and went into a coma, according to the Norway-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, which focuses on Kurdish rights. IranWire said that Geravand had been admitted to the hospital with “head trauma.”
According to Hengaw staffer Awyer Shekhi, female morality police officials approached Geravand near the Shohada metro station and requested her to straighten her headscarf.
“This request resulted in an altercation with the morality police officers physically assaulting Geravand. She was pushed, leading to her collapse,” Shekhi said.
Iranian authorities have disputed the charges, claiming Geravand was hospitalized owing to a low blood pressure injury.
In interviews with official media, Geravand’s friends and relatives have echoed such denials, but it is unclear if they were pushed into doing so. Previously, UN officials and rights groups accused Iranian authorities of forcing the families of dead demonstrators to make comments in support of the government narrative.
Following the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, Iran’s parliament passed a “hijab bill” on the wearing of garments in September, with violations punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian lady, died in September after being held by the regime’s infamous morality police for allegedly failing to follow the country’s conservative clothing code.
