A teenage girl is in a coma after she was “physically attacked” by Iranian authorities for not wearing a hijab, according to a human rights group.
Armita Geravand, 16, suffered “severe injuries” at the hands of the so-called morality police at Shohada Station in Tehran on Sunday, human rights organisation Hengaw said.
She was reportedly dragged out of a train, with Hengaw sharing an image it says shows Armita in a bed at Fajr Hospital.
The case has raised concerns the teenager could suffer the same fate as Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman whose death last year while in the custody of morality police sparked nationwide protests.
A prominent rights activist told news agency Reuters they are “following the case closely”.
“She is in coma at Intensive care unit of the hospital and her condition is critical,” they said, speaking anonymously. “Her relatives said there is a heavy presence of plain clothes at the hospital.”
Another activist said security forces had forbidden her parents from posting her picture on social media or from talking to human rights groups.
CCTV footage, shared with state news agency IRNA, appears to show Armita with two female friends walking towards the train.
After boarding, one of the girls is seen backing off and reaching for the ground, just before another girl is dragged out by passengers.
The footage has not been independently verified.
Masoud Dorosti, head of the Tehran Metro Operating Company, said the CCTV footage shows no sign of conflict.
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Parents’ statement ‘made under duress’
According to local reports, a journalist was briefly arrested on Monday when she went to the hospital to inquire about Armita’s condition.
In a video posted by IRNA, Amrita’s parents said their daughter had suffered a drop in blood pressure before losing her balance and hitting her head.
Human rights groups claim her parents’ statement was made under duress and have called for footage from inside the train to be published.
“Iranian security institutions have said her condition was caused by low pressure – an oft-repeated scenario from such institutions,” Iran-based rights group Dadban said.
There was no immediate response from Iran’s interior ministry to a request for comment about the incident.
It comes little more than a week after Iran passed a law to impose more severe punishments on women who refuse to wear the mandatory Islamic headscarf in public.
The bill – which was passed days after the first anniversary of Ms Amini’s death – extends punishments to business owners who serve women not wearing the hijab and activists who organise against it.
Anyone who violates the legislation could face up to 10 years in prison if the offence occurs in an organised way.
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on social media: “Once again a young woman in Iran is fighting for her life.
“Just because she showed her hair in the subway. It is unbearable.
“The parents of Armita Garawand do not belong in front of cameras, but have the right to be at their daughter’s bedside.”
