Teenage girl who was allegedly 'beaten by morality police' in Iran has died

While Iranian authorities and the young woman's family stated that 16-year-old Armita Geravend fainted after her blood pressure dropped on the subway and hit her head on the carriage, opposition sources claimed that Armita was beaten by the morality police due to the headscarf rule.

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Teenage girl who was allegedly 'beaten by morality police' in Iran has died

16-year-old Armita Geravend, who was hospitalized after falling ill and hitting her head on the floor of a subway in Iran's capital, Tehran, and who was alleged to have been "beaten by the morality police" for not wearing a headscarf, has passed away after failing to emerge from a coma that lasted 28 days.

The official Iranian news agency IRNA announced that Armita, who was being treated in the intensive care unit at the hospital due to brain damage, could not be saved despite comprehensive treatments and had passed away a short time ago.

It had been stated that the young girl named Armita Geravend had fainted due to a drop in blood pressure after boarding the subway at the Shohada Square station in Tehran on the morning of October 1, causing her to hit her head on the side of the carriage, and that she had been taken to the hospital for treatment.

Opposition sources, however, had claimed that in the incident, which dominated the country's agenda, the young girl had been subjected to physical assault for not complying with mandatory headscarf rules and had lost consciousness during this time.

IT WAS REFLECTED IN SECURITY CAMERA FOOTAGE

In the security camera footage regarding the incident published by IRNA, it was seen that a young girl was taken off the train by a group at the subway station and was lying motionless with her consciousness lost.

There was no footage from inside the train in the security camera recordings. In the footage released later, it is understood that the young girl boarded the subway without a headscarf after meeting with her friends and fell to the ground seconds later.

HER FAMILY HAD ANNOUNCED THAT THEY UNDERSTOOD THE INCIDENT WAS AN ACCIDENT

Following this, IRNA published an interview with Armita's family regarding the incident, and the family denied the allegations that their daughter had been attacked.

Armita's mother, Shahin Ahmadi Geravend, had said, "My daughter had an appointment with her friends to go to school from the Shohada Metro; after entering the train station, her blood pressure dropped, and during this time she lost her balance and hit her head on the edge of the carriage. We have examined all the footage; the incident was an accident. We ask people to pray for our daughter's health."

Father Ahmed Geravend had also stated, "It has been proven to us that the incident was an accident. We have seen the photos and videos from the moment the subway arrived to the moment she boarded the train."

On the other hand, the Tehran-based newspaper Shargh announced that its reporter, Maryam Lotfi, who visited Fajr Hospital on October 2, had been detained and released a few hours later.

The incident was presented in some Western media outlets as a new "Mahsa Amini case," and officials from the US, UK, and Germany voiced allegations that the young girl had been "beaten by the morality police."

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who fell ill and was hospitalized after being detained by guidance patrols known as the "morality police" in Tehran on September 13, 2022, had led to long-term protests across the country.

News Source: AA