Women in Iran must wear a hijab under Iran’s strict Islamic laws
A student in Iran has been arrested after she stripped down to her underwear in what is believed to have been a protest against the country’s strict Islamic dress code.
A video on social media shared by rights group Amnesty International shows the woman walking around her university campus in her underwear and with her hair uncovered.
She can also be seen gesturing towards other students, many of whom are women wearing headscarves.
A second video shows her being surrounded by a group of men who bundle her into a car and drive away.
In a post on X, Islamic Azad University confirmed she had been arrested, the Independent reports.
Their director general Amir Mahjoub wrote: “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.
“The motives and underlying reasons for the student’s actions are currently under investigation.”
Iran International reports that the student sustained injuries after she was physically assaulted during her arrest.
Citing a newsletter from student group Amir Kabir, it said the student was “disrobed after being harassed for not wearing a headscarf and having her clothing torn by security forces”.
The newsletter said she was struck on the head by either by a car door or a pillar which caused heavy bleeding. Her blood could apparently be seen on the car’s tyres.
Amnesty Iran has called on the country’s authorities to ““immediately and unconditionally” release the student.
The group wrote on X: “Iran’s authorities must immediately & unconditionally release the university student who was violently arrested on 2 Nov after she removed her clothes in protest against abusive enforcement of compulsory veiling by security officials at Tehran’s Islamic Azad University.
“Pending her release, authorities must protect her from torture & other ill-treatment & ensure access to family & lawyer. Allegations of beatings & sexual violence against her during arrest need independent & impartial investigations. Those responsible must held to account.”
Under Iran’s strict interpretation of Islamic law, women must wear a hijab when out in public. These laws are enforced by the country’s ‘morality police,’ and anyone found to break these rules can be harshly punished.
There were wide-scale protests across Iran in 2022 when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in custody of the morality police after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing a headscarf properly.
This prompted a huge crackdown from Iranian authorities, who “crushed protests using unlawful force and mass arrests”, Amnesty states.
Since then, an increasing number of women have protested the hijab laws by discarding their veils.
However, little seems to have changed in the country, with Amnesty saying women continue to be treated as “second-class citizens.”
