On 22 October, Iranian state media shared that a teenage girl named Armita Geravand, who had been assaulted by police in Tehran metro earlier this month is reportedly “brain dead.” The police attacked Geravand because she had broken Iran’s strictly implemented hijab policy. She had slipped into a coma after the attack.
The Iranian state media reported, “Follow-ups on the latest health condition of Geravand indicate that her condition of being brain dead seems certain despite the efforts of the medical staff.”
The news of her hospitalisation was initially made public by human rights organisations like Kurdish-Iranian Hengaw. These groups shared images of the 16-year-old on social media which clearly showed her on life support and unconscious with a bandage over her head and a breathing tube.
However, the Islamic Republic denied the incident which transpired on 1st October on the Tehran subway.
Armita Geravand attacked for not wearing a Hijab
Two well-known rights activists had shared that the girl was attacked by security personnel in the Tehran metro for breaking the country’s draconian hijab legislation which had left her in critical condition in hospital after falling into a coma. One of the activists informed, “We are following her case closely. She is in a coma at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital and her condition is critical. Her relatives said there is a heavy presence of plainclothes security at the hospital.”
According to the second activist, the teenager’s parents were prohibited by security agents from speaking with human rights outfits or sharing her photo on social media. The activists only spoke under the condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the matter.
Masoud Dorosti, the head of the Tehran Metro Operating Company, claimed that there was no evidence of verbal or physical altercation between patrons and staff members in the CCTV recording. Iranian media proclaimed that an Iranian journalist was briefly apprehended when she visited the hospital to find out about Armita Geravand’s condition.
A rights group located in Iran called Dadban posted, “Iranian security institutions have said her condition was caused by low pressure, an often repeated scenario from such institutions.”
Her parents said in a video uploaded to the official news agency IRNA that their daughter had experienced a dip in blood pressure, lost her balance and struck her head inside the metro cabin. Her mother said, “I think my daughter’s blood pressure dropped, I am not too sure, I think they have said her pressure dropped.”
However, rights groups have demanded that the government release footage taken inside the cabin and argued that the remarks of her parents were under pressure.
“Once again a young woman in Iran is fighting for her life. Just because she showed her hair in the subway. It is unbearable. The parents of Armita Garawand do not belong in front of cameras, but have the right to be at their daughter’s bedside,” commented Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
The human rights activists fear that she might end up like 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, whose death at the hands of morality police last year set off months of widespread anti-government demonstrations.
Iran’s theocratic leadership imposed restrictions on women’s attire following a revolution that overthrew the secular government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979. Laws dictate that females cover their hair and dress in long and baggy outfits. Those who are found to be in violation risk arrest, penalties and public disgrace.