Girl killed in Iran for not wearing hijab (What is the story of Mahsa Amini?)
Mahsa Amini was a girl from Kurdistan province who was arrested by the morality police near the subway station during her family trip to Tehran. After being detained by the officers, she was forced to attend hijab orientation classes. What happened to her in the morality security police building in Tehran caused her to have a heart attack and stroke. Finally, she died in Kasra hospital after three days.
Who is Mahsa Amini?
Mahsa Amini, whose real name is “Zhina,” was born in 1379 in the city of Saqez, Kurdistan. Her family traveled to Tehran with her brother and her cousin. And during her visit, the morality police arrested her, and after being beaten at detainment, she had a concussion. After her death, many people protested and created a new social and political movement.
The story of Mahsa Amini the arrest
Around 6 pm on Tuesday, September 16th, 2022, near the Shahid Haqqani subway station on the Shahid Haqqani highway, Mahsa was arrested while she was with her brother. After his brother “Ashkan Amini” protested, she was told that his sister would be taken to the detention center for an orientation class and released after 40 minutes.
Two hours after Mahsa’s arrest and transfer to the morality police building on Vozara Street, she suffered a heart attack and fainted. When the ambulance arrived, his family was told that one officer had been injured. Her family was in the dark until one girl saw the photo shown by Mahsa’s brother and announced that the transferred person to the hospital was Mahsa.
According to Jamaran news, Ashkan retells the story of her sister like this: I was standing behind the door of the morality police building, and suddenly there was a scream. We were all knocking on the door of the building; we went up, but they didn’t open the door; five minutes later, an ambulance left the building. Every girl who came out said that someone was killed; I showed the photo of Mahsa to the girls. Unfortunately, one of them said that Mahsa had fainted in her arms. After we arrived at the hospital, we found out that my sister was in a coma in the special ward of this hospital, and the doctors told us that she had a stroke and a heart attack. After three days in CCU, finally, Mahsa Amini announced dead and Iran’s homeland security threat her family not to expose any detail to the press.
The official police report on Mahsa Amini’s death
According to Tehran police officials: what happened to Ms. Amini was not a fight or an insult but a heart complication in the orientation class. The police said that they would release the video of the moment of the heart attack for this young girl in class soon after speaking with her family.
According to Jamaran’s report from Mahsa’s uncle, “The police chief and some of his colleagues came to visit us, we asked what happened? They promised to show us the CCTV images soon. They said not to worry; We would give you lunch and dinner! It is unknown who brought this disaster to Mahsa; I told him that this problem could not be solved. Today it was our daughter’s turn; tomorrow, it will be another girl’s turn; you erase the face of the problem.”
Two days after the death of Mahsa, police released the CCTV cameras, which raised many new questions. First of all, the videos were inaccurate, and some parts were cut. Second, there was no footage of the time that police arrested Mahsa, and they only showed the time that she fainted.
The death of Mahsa and the start of the protests
With Mahsa Amini’s name trending on Twitter, the news of his death was reflected in important world media. Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi condemned his “heartbreaking death.” In a conversation with Tashen website, Mahsa Amini’s father confirmed the reports about the efforts of the security forces to bury his daughter at night. He also told Hammihan newspaper that his daughter had neither epilepsy nor a history of heart disease. The students of Tehran University gathered in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, and the Office of the President of Iran announced that Ebrahim Raisi called the family of Mrs. Amini. At the same time, reports of protest gatherings were published in Mashhad and Rasht. Videos on social networks showed Iranian women cutting their hair with scissors in front of the camera in protest against the death of Mahsa Amini. As a sign of protest, the famous actor Katayoun Riahi published a picture of herself without a veil and wrote: “In mourning for the women of Iran.”
From the early hours of September 19th, it became clear that the protest for Mahsa Amini’s death had spread throughout Iran. The published images showed women taking off their hijab or burning their headscarves in front of the security and anti-riot forces. The violence of the police increased, and several videos of direct shooting at the protesters were published. In Kurdistan, the identity of the first protesters killed in Diwandara and Dehgolan was announced. Government media such as Fars news agency and Iran newspaper criticized the street protests, and the governor of Tehran said that some people are looking for “disturbance” “with a plan.” The Kurdistan Corps commander warned Mrs. Amini’s family to separate from the “enemies of the regime”. Valiasr square and Keshavarz boulevard of Tehran were the places of protesting people for the second day in a row. Street protests started in Qom, Zanjan, Bandar Abbas, and Kerman. France, America, and the European Union condemned Mahsa Amini’s death and protesters’ suppression.
With the continuation of nationwide protests, two different narratives of people’s conflict with the police and other anti-riot forces were raised on social networks. First, these forces’ fatigue temporarily caused people to occupy the streets, and second, the increase in violent encounters with protesters. For example, a video from this day showed the police hitting a protesting girl’s head on a table. Some supporters of the government even criticized this video. Iran’s interior minister said the internet restrictions would remain as long as the “gatherings” continue. On this day, Iranian TV announced that 35 people were killed in the protests. Political activist Hossein Ronaghi, who went to the Evin Prosecutor’s Office to present himself, was attacked by security forces in front of Evin prison. The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance also said that actresses who took off their hijab should “enter into other activities.” This comment was met with a sharp reaction from Ketayoun Riahi and Hamed Behdad.
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