Armita Geravand, a 16-year-old Iranian girl has died, after an alleged encounter with officers over violating the country’s hijab law. She was in a coma for weeks before being reported “brain dead” last Sunday, October 22, 2023.
As per CNN, a statement was shared by Iran’s state agency IRNA.
"Unfortunately, the brain damage led to the victim spending some time in a coma and they died a few minutes ago."
Armita collapsed after boarding a Tehran metro train on October 1. As per the BBC, the Borna news agency, which is affiliated with the youth ministry, said that the Iranian girl had died after receiving 28 days of "intensive medical treatment."
Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of a teen allegedly being beaten up brutally. Discretion is advised.
Armita Geravand death: Activists accused morality police of assaulting her for not wearing a hijab
On October 1, 2023, Armita Geravand was hospitalized with head injuries after her alleged confrontation with officers of the morality police at Tehran’s Shohada metro station.
As per the BBC, Geravand was on her way to school and had just entered a subway car with her short black hair “uncovered”. A few minutes later, her unconscious body was dragged out of the train carriage by other civilians.
Armita Geravand lived in western Tehran with her family. As per a report by the New York Times, she studied art at a vocational art and design high school. According to her classmates, the 16-year-old was enthusiastic about painting and undertook taekwondo training semiprofessionally.
She was originally from Kermanshah, a city in Kurdish-dominated western Iran, as per The Telegraph, which cited the Kurdish-focused Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights.
A staff member named Awyer Shekhi of the Norway-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights told CNN that a few female morality police officers had asked Armita Geravand to “adjust” her hijab while she was with her two friends, who were also not wearing the hijabs. Awyer added,
"This request resulted in an altercation with the morality police officers physically assaulting Geravand. She was pushed, leading to her collapse."
The CCTV footage released by Iranian authorities has also gone viral. It showed Armita, with her hair uncovered, boarding a train with two other girls. No footage from inside the train or the entrance to the station was released.
Iranian authorities have denied reports of assault
Farzad Seifikaran, a journalist with Radio Zamaneh, denied the previous reports from the human rights organization about the Hijab law. He said that it was one of the girls with Armita Geravand who had allegedly pushed her, resulting in her getting hospitalized for "head trauma," as per the Guardian.
As per the First Post, Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, said,
"According to the official theory of Armita Geravand’s doctors, after a sudden drop in blood pressure, she suffered a fall, a brain injury, followed by continuous convulsions, decreased cerebral oxygenation and a cerebral edema."
Iranian authorities have insisted that she had “fainted” because of her blood pressure. As per the New York Times, Shahin Ahmadi, the mother of the 16-year-old student, agreed with the government in a video released by IRNA. She said,
"My daughter, I think her blood pressure, I don’t know what, I think, they say that her blood pressure dropped then she fell down and her head hit the edge of the metro."
The interview was widely seen as coerced, as many netizens have alleged that Iranian authorities released "forced" interviews in the past with family members of victims killed or hurt by security forces, as per The Guardian.
The news comes just over a year after the death of Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested by the morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s Hijab Law. Her death sparked widespread demonstrations across the country, mostly led by women, that are still ongoing.