A female Iranian student was arrested on Saturday for stripping down to her underwear in protest against reportedly being assaulted by security forces over improper hijab.
A video gone viral on social media showed the student sitting in the courtyard of Tehran’s prestigious Islamic Azad University university’s Science and Research Branch.
The footage, initially posted by Iranian student social media channel the Amir Kabir newsletter, appeared to have been shot by onlookers.
Another video showed the woman being taken away in a car by me in plain clothes and driven off to an undisclosed location.
The Amir Kabir newsletter alleged that the woman was beaten during the arrest.
The woman, who has not been identified, was reportedly harassed on the university premises by members of the Basij paramilitary force, who ripped off her headscarf and clothes, several news outlets and social media channels reported.
In protest against the harassment, the woman removed her clothing and sat outside the university in her underwear. Videos posted on social media show the woman walking down the street, to the shock of the passersby.
Under Iran’s mandatory dress code, it is mandatory for women to wear a headscarf and loose-fitting clothing in public.
In a statement posted on X, university spokesperson Amir Mahjob said, “at the police station... it was found that she was under severe mental pressure and had a mental disorder.”
While the student’s current condition remains unclear, Hamshahri Daily quoted an “informed source” saying she may be transferred to a mental hospital after further investigation.
“Iran’s authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the university student who was violently arrested after she removed her clothes in protest against abusive enforcement of compulsory veiling by security officials,” Amnesty International said.
The London-based rights group, which has in the past years reported allegations of abuse against women in Iranian prisons, added: “Pending her release, authorities must protect her from torture and other ill-treatment and ensure access to family and lawyer.”
In 2022, near-nationwide protests broke out in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman arrested for allegedly violating hijab rules.
Women protesters across Iran defied authorities by removing and, in some cases, burning their headscarves. The protests led to a crackdown in which 551 protesters were reportedly killed, and thousands were arrested.
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