A 31-year-old Iranian woman has been left paraplegic after being shot by police over a violation of the country's strict hijab rules, according to a source with knowledge of the case who spoke to the BBC. Arezoo Badri, a mother of two, was driving home with her sister in the northern city of Noor on July 22 when police attempted to pull her over to confiscate her car.
The incident occurred amid a renewed crackdown by Iranian authorities on women defying the nation's compulsory dress code. Police had recently announced measures, including CCTV, to identify female drivers failing to cover their heads and confiscating vehicles carrying female passengers with uncovered hair.
According to the BBC source, the police officer first shot at the car's tire before targeting Badri directly from the driver's side. "The bullet entered her lung and severely damaged her spinal cord," the source said. "She is paralyzed from the waist down, and doctors have said it will take months to determine whether she will be permanently paraplegic or not."
JUST NOW: BBC reporting that Arezoo Badri, a mother of two, has been left paraplegic after Iranian police in Noor shot her for violating compulsory hijab. pic.twitter.com/wdC2JXPLb4
— Kareem Rifai 🌐 (@KareemRifai) August 12, 2024
Colonel Ahmed Amini, Noor's police chief, told Iran's state-run news agency that the use of firearms was permitted under Iranian law. He stated that the driver did not comply with the order to stop, prompting the officers to shoot. The police chief did not name Badri in his statement.
It remains unclear whether Badri was wearing a headscarf at the time of the incident. However, her car reportedly had a confiscation notice against it, suggesting multiple alleged violations of the hijab law. Both the police and the BBC source confirmed that the car's windows were tinted.
Following the shooting, Badri was initially taken to a hospital in Noor before being transferred to a hospital in Sari, the provincial capital, for lung surgery. A week later, she was moved to Tehran, where the bullet was only removed after 10 days, according to the source.
Badri is currently in the intensive care unit of the police-owned Vali-e-Asr Hospital in Tehran under tight security. The source said that her family is allowed only brief visits, during which their mobile phones are confiscated. Authorities have prohibited visitors from taking photos or videos of Badri, although some images have emerged.
The heightened security measures surrounding Badri's hospitalization are reminiscent of those implemented in the case of Armita Geravand, a 17-year-old who died in October after spending 28 days in a coma following an alleged altercation with the morality police at an underground station. Human rights activists claimed she was assaulted for not wearing a hijab, an allegation denied by the Iranian government.
The incident involving Badri comes amid ongoing tensions in Iran over the enforcement of hijab laws. Women have been legally required to wear a hijab in public since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, with penalties for infringement including fines and imprisonment. The death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 while in custody of the morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab "improperly" sparked widespread protests and a movement known as "Women, Life, Freedom."
Despite the increased risk of punishment, Iranian women have told the BBC they remain willing to defy the hijab rule. Recently, CCTV footage showing the violent assault of a 14-year-old girl by hijab enforcement officers in Tehran ignited widespread outrage. The girl's mother told Iran's Ensaf News that she found her daughter at a morality police station with a "bruised face, swollen lips, a bruised neck, and torn clothes."
