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Iran student who went viral for stripping in public is ‘receiving treatment’

The woman went viral on social media

Ros Russell
Tuesday 05 November 2024 11:02
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An Iranian woman was arrested after she stripped down to her undergarments to protest her alleged assault by security forces over improper hijab
An Iranian woman was arrested after she stripped down to her undergarments to protest her alleged assault by security forces over improper hijab (Screengrab/AmnestyIran)

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A student who stripped to her underwear at a university in Iran is ‘receiving treatment’, a government spokesperson has said.

The young woman undressed on Saturday at the Islamic Azad University in Tehran, an act that was widely perceived on social media as a protest against Iran’s strict Islamic dress code.

The student sustained injuries after being physically assaulted during her arrest, Iran International reported, citing a newsletter by the student group Amir Kabir newsletter.

“Instead of viewing this issue under a security lens, we are rather looking at it with a social lens and seek to solve the problems of this student as a troubled individual,” government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Tuesday in the first official reaction to the event.

She said that the young woman had been transferred from a police station to a treatment centre, but did not say what treatment she would receive.

“It is yet too soon to speak of this student’s return to university. According to a video published by her husband, she needs treatment and that needs to be completed before taking the next steps,” Mohajerani added on the government’s website.

An Iranian woman sits as she attends an annual rally in front of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, marking the 45th anniversary of Iranian students' takeover of the embassy, starting a hostage crisis
An Iranian woman sits as she attends an annual rally in front of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, marking the 45th anniversary of Iranian students' takeover of the embassy, starting a hostage crisis (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The woman was detained by security guards at the university. A university spokesperson, Amir Mahjob, said on X on Saturday “at the police station, ... it was found that she was under severe mental pressure and had a mental disorder.”

Growing numbers of Iranian women have defied authorities by discarding their veils after nationwide protests that followed the death in September 2022 of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini. She died while in the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules. Security forces violently put down the revolt.

The non-official Khabaronline website reported that the government spokesperson said the young woman was not facing any criminal charges.

Amnesty International said on X a young woman 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” and called for her immediate release.

On Monday, the semi-official, hardline Tasnim news agency said those reacting on social media were “the same anti-Iran movement which jumped on the Mahsa Amini affair in 2022”.

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