Iran Anti-Hijab protests across Iran intensifies, over 70 protesters killed. Protesters chant slogans “death to the dictator.”
The death of the Iranian woman Mahsa Amini after being beaten on the head by Iran’s “morality police” for wearing her hijab “incorrectly” led to outrage amongst the women of Iran and especially the Muslim community of the World.
However, the Iranian authorities have said that the 22-year-old died due to a sudden heart problem.
Mahsa had been detained by the country's morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely and was taken to the Vozara street detention center to be "convinced and educated" about the hijab. At the detention center, she suddenly fainted and was rushed to the hospital, where she showed concussion-like symptoms before falling into a coma, and finally being declared brain dead, and later was declared dead on September 16.
Speaking to Sky News in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, Erfan Mortezaei said his cousin, Miss Amini had gone shopping in Tehran with relatives including her brother, Ashkan.
That's when they were confronted by the morality police and saw Mahsa and others to which they said that her hijab was not correct.
Miss Amini's cousin further said that his brother, Ashkan tried to explain to them that they were not in their home city, and were strangers in Tehran, and so to consider that and pleaded not to be taken away.
But the police officers have reportedly pepper-sprayed Ashkan in the face and forced Mahsa into the van and take her to the morality police station.
Furthermore, Mortezaei said a witness who was inside the van informed the family of what happened during the journey and later.
"During the journey to the police station she was tortured and insulted," he said.
After arriving at the police station Mahsa then began to lose her vision and fainted. Post which she was taken to a hospital but the ambulance took around 30 minutes to reach the center and an hour and a half before she got to the hospital.
"There is a report from Kasra hospital [in Tehran] that says effectively by the time she reached the hospital she was already dead from a medical point of view.
"She suffered a concussion from a blow to the head," Amini's cousin stated.
The Iranian women including men have taken to the streets of Tehran protesting against the moral police of the state and also against the Islamic dress code.
The protesters publicly cut their hair off, burned and waved their veils, and demanded justice for what happened to Mahsa.
Over 70 people have died during the protest till now reports Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR).
“We call on the international community to decisively and unitedly take practical steps to stop the killing and torture of protesters,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, adding that video footage and death certificates obtained by the group showed “live ammunition is being directly fired at protesters.”
Protesters have even started to chant slogans "death to the dictator", calling for the end of the over three-decade rule of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Many public figures have also expressed their views against the incident like Iranian Empress Farah Pahlavi, World activist Malala Yousafzai, model Gigi Hadid, and her sister Bella Hadid through social media posts.
While Malala and Gigi and many others are of the opinion that wearing a hijab and not wearing a hijab should be completely one's own choice, Bella and the Iranian Empress writes heartfelt condolences to the family and others who have lost their lives during the ongoing protest.
The Iranian Government has restricted internet services in the place which will limit the ability of protesters to organize and share their videos with the outside world.
Earlier, in India's Karnataka, there was a protest by college students who wore were not allowed to attend classes.
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