DUBAI: An Iranian woman was declared brain dead hours after she was reportedly arrested by morality police in Tehran for not complying with the country’s mandatory hijab rules.
Mahsa Amini was allegedly beaten inside the morality police’s van while being taken to a detention center, according to reports by Radio Farda, quoting eyewitnesses.
The 22-year-old had traveled from Kurdistan to Tehran to meet relatives when she was arrested on September 13.
Her family was later informed that Amini was hospitalized after the media center of the Tehran Police Department had alleged she ‘suddenly suffered a heart problem.’
Mahsa’s older brother Kiarash Amini said in an interview with Iranwire news website that according to doctors’ diagnoses his sister suffered from a heart attack or a stroke, ‘and that while her heart was still beating, her brain is no longer conscious.’
Mahsa Amini was hospitalized shortly after her arrest on September 13. (@MahyarTousi)
Authorities in Iran have increasingly cracked down on women who violate the mandatory wearing of the hijab in public, which became compulsory for Iranian women and girls over the age of 9 after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Reports suggest that women deemed ‘non-compliant’ have been barred from entering government offices, banks, or riding on public transportation.
