Mahsa Amini fell into a coma while in custody in Tehran after being arrested by police enforcing the country’s strict hijab rules. Police said the 22-year-old woman was taken to hospital after reportedly suffering a heart attack. Pro-reform news websites cited an uncle of Ms Amini who said she had no history of heart disease. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called for the cause of the incident to be investigated with “urgent and special attention”, state media reported. The Center for Human Rights in Iran said Ms Amini was visiting her family in the capital when she was arrested on Tuesday for “allegedly inappropriate hijab”. “Her family was told she was being taken for ‘re-education’ and would be released later that evening,” the organization said. According to reports on social media, the officers apparently found a fault in her hijab or headscarf. The headscarf has been compulsory for women in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and members of the morality police enforce the strict dress code. In recent months, Iranian rights activists have urged women to remove their veils in public in an act of defiance. The gesture can lead to women being arrested for flouting the Islamic dress code. After her death, social media posts showed protesters chanting “death to the dictator (Khamenei)” as drivers honked their car horns in a Tehran square near the hospital where she died. On Friday, police said there was no violence or physical contact between officers and Ms Amini while she was in custody. Police also shared CCTV footage which appears to show Ms Amini inside a police station, along with other detainees. At one point she gets up from a chair, goes to talk to another woman, then holds her head with both hands, trips over a chair and collapses. In another clip, he is seen being carried away on a stretcher. Image: President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi “Our children are dying” Ms Amini’s death has drawn condemnation from Iranian celebrities, athletes and other public figures. Former reform president Mohammad Khatami said the behavior of the morality police was a “disaster”, while the US special envoy for Iran, Robert Maley, described the incident as “disgusting”. “Those responsible for her death should be held accountable,” he added. Popular former soccer player Ali Karimi tweeted that while children of high-ranking officials are leaving the country, “our children are dying.” Read more: Protesters in Iran shout ‘shameless’ at Supreme Leader’s envoy Iran’s president vows ‘revenge’ after colonel’s killing ‘We need action, not apologies’ This is not the first time that the country’s morality police have come under fire. In recent years, it has come under fire for its treatment of people, particularly young women, with videos online showing officers forcing women into police vehicles. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has advocated a softer stance towards women who do not conform to the official dress code. However, hardliners have called for harsh punishment, even flogging, arguing that allowing women to show their hair leads to moral decay and the breakup of families. Since 2017, after dozens of women took off their headscarves in public in a wave of protests, the authorities adopted tougher measures.
