Iranian Teenage Girl Dies After Clash With Morality Police

Updated Oct. 30, 2023, 2:00 p.m. EST

• Armita Geravand, the teenage girl who has been in a coma since being knocked unconscious after not wearing a hijab on her way to school, has died, according to state media. 
• Geravand's death is reigniting the protests against Iran's mandatory hijab law, which also led to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September. 
• New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran wrote:

"Armita's voice has been forever silenced, preventing us from hearing her story. Yet we do know that in a climate where Iranian authorities severely penalize women and girls for not adhering to the state's forced-hijab law, Armita courageously appeared in public without one. As long as the Iranian government enforces its draconian mandatory hijab law, the lives of girls and women in Iran will hang in the balance, vulnerable to severe rights violations, including violence and even death."

What's the story?

• On Sunday, Iranian 16-year-old Armita Geravand was knocked unconscious on the train on her way to school while not wearing a hijab. 
• Geravand is in a coma, being watched by security guards at a military hospital in Tehran. 
• The 16-year-old's situation is being compared to the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old who died in custody of the morality police last year after not wearing a hijab. Activists are outraged, believing the government's hijab agents harmed both young women. 

What happened to Geravand?

• Released security footage from the train station shows Geravand stepping onto the subway car and, moments later, being dragged out unconscious and laid on the train platform. The government has not released footage from inside the train car, which would reveal what happened to the teenager.
• Journalist Farzad Seifikaran interviewed four people close to the matter who said Geravand and two of her friends, who also were not wearing hijabs, were arguing with morality officers. One agent pushed Geravand, and she fell and hit her head, triggering cerebral hemorrhaging.  
• The government is claiming she fainted due to a drop in blood sugar. Masoud Dorosti, head of the Tehran Metro Operating Company, told Iranian news media that footage inside the train did not show signs of verbal or physical confrontations. 
• State news agency IRNA released a video of Armita's parents pushing the same narrative. The pair have been described as looking "shellshocked."
• Mohsen Borhani, a lawyer in Tehran, wrote on X:

"Transparency means all the security agents leave Fajr Air Force Hospital and surrounding areas and journalists be allowed to report on what happened to the 16-year-old girl."

Iranian hijab laws

• Iran created a mandatory dress code requiring all women to wear a headscarf and loose-fitting clothing in public following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The revolution caused the end of the monarchy and led to the establishment of the Islamic Republic. 
• The morality police — formally known as Gasht-e Ershad, or Guidance Patrols — ensure that women conform to the authorities' interpretation of "proper" clothing. Officers stop and assess women for how much hair is showing, how close-fitting or short their clothing is, and their use of make-up. If an officer believes a woman is violating the rule, the punishment can include a fine, prison, or flogging.
• Iranians have protested hijab laws and the morality police on a number of occasions in recent years, giving rise to movements including  My Stealthy Freedom, White Wednesdays, and Girls of Revolution Street.

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-Jamie Epstein & Josh Herman