A female student has been arrested at Tehran Islamic Azad University after staging a protest against dress code regulations by partially removing her clothing, according to reports from Euronews and Amnesty Iran.
The incident, which was captured on video by other students and widely shared on social media platform X, occurred after security officers allegedly harassed the woman for improper hijab wear. The student, whose identity has not been released, was filmed from a classroom overlooking the campus. The video has garnered significant attention online, with social media users praising the woman's actions as courageous.
Video: Arab social media
Syed Amir Mahjoub, the university's public relations director, said security personnel handed the student over to police authorities. He denied any physical confrontation took place and stated that preliminary investigations suggest the woman was experiencing psychological distress.
In Iran, a student harassed by her university's morality police over her "improper" hijab didn't back down. She turned her body into a protest, stripping to her underwear and marching through campus—defying a regime that constantly controls women's bodies. Her act is a powerful… pic.twitter.com/76ekxSK7bI
— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) November 2, 2024
Amnesty Iran has called for the student's immediate and unconditional release. In a post on X, the organization demanded she be protected from "torture and other ill-treatment" and granted access to legal representation and family members. The group also urged an investigation into allegations of physical abuse and sexual violence during her arrest.
Iran's authorities must immediately & unconditionally release the university student who was violently arrested on 2 Nov after she removed her clothes in protest against abusive enforcement of compulsory veiling by security officials at Tehran's Islamic Azad University. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/lI1JXYsgtm
— Amnesty Iran (@AmnestyIran) November 2, 2024
Emily Schrader, an online activist for the Iranian people, posted on Instagram: "Initial reports indicate that following the protest incident, she was abducted by 4 security forces from the campus and was severely beaten before being dragged into a car and taken to an unknown place. According to an eyewitness, the girl was beat so badly her head hit the door of the car and she was bleeding profusely to the point that traces of blood were seen on the tires of the car."
Some news outlets have reported that intelligence agents arrested the woman and transferred her to an undisclosed location. A local university-affiliated newspaper stated she had been taken to a psychiatric facility.
