In Tehran, Iran, a disheartening incident has unfolded, as Armita Geravand, a teenage girl, reportedly met a tragic end after an alleged encounter with the police due to her attire, which was perceived as a violation of Iran’s strict dress code. According to Iranian media, the young girl has passed away while receiving medical care in a military hospital. This incident has attracted significant attention, prompting discussions on the circumstances surrounding her hospitalization and subsequent death.
After enduring a prolonged period of intensive medical treatment and spending 28 days in the hospital, Armita Geravand’s life came to an unfortunate conclusion. This information was disclosed by the Borna news agency, citing a report from AFP. In a heart-wrenching declaration, her father had previously conveyed the grim prognosis, stating that there was no hope of her recovery, as she had been pronounced “likely brain-dead.”
The incident itself is surrounded by conflicting accounts. Iranian authorities assert that a medical issue precipitated the teenager’s collapse and subsequent coma, while her parents maintain that she had not been physically assaulted. They attributed her fall and head injury to a sudden drop in blood pressure. In stark contrast, the accounts of friends and witnesses tell a different narrative.
Human rights organizations have called for an impartial media investigation into the incident, highlighting the government’s efforts to restrict media coverage. Journalist Maryam Lotfi, who attempted to report on Geravand’s condition at Fajr Hospital, was briefly detained, as reported by the Shargh newspaper.
Armita Geravand, a high school student, was traveling on the subway in the company of two friends on October 1. Witnesses narrate that a female guardian from a local entity known as the “Guardians of Hijab” approached her. The guardian reportedly confronted her for what was perceived as a breach of the Islamic Republic’s stringent dress code for females.
Accounts suggest that the confrontation escalated, with the guardian allegedly physically assaulting Geravand and pushing her against the subway car doors, rendering her unconscious. Blurred surveillance footage from that day reveals Geravand boarding the subway car with her two friends, and subsequently, it shows those friends and two other women pulling her out of the car onto a different platform.
This incident evokes a grim reminder of a similar case from 2022 when Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, died while in the custody of Iran’s Morality Police. While Iranian officials claimed her death was due to a heart attack, her family, in an interview with CBS News, alleged that she had succumbed to fatal beatings at the hands of the police. Her arrest had been related to the improper wearing of her mandatory hijab head covering.
Amini’s tragic demise had profound repercussions across Iran, giving rise to an unprecedented wave of anti-government protests. These demonstrations, predominantly led by young women, demanded fundamental rights and chanted slogans such as “Women, Life, Freedom,” resonating not only within Iran but also around the world.
