Iranian student stripped naked to protest headscarf ban

A female student at a university in Tehran stripped down to her underwear in protest after being harassed by campus security guards because of her hijab.

Videos widely circulated on social media show the unidentified student sitting outside campus in his underwear as security guards surround him.

In another video, she walks around campus in a bra and panties as stunned students film her with their cell phones.

The resistance action started on Saturday, after the conflict that broke out at the Azad University science and research center as a result of the physical attack of the security forces on a student for not wearing a headscarf.

The Iranian student chose to take off her remaining clothes in protest in response to her clothes being torn, according to social media news channel, Amir Kabir newsletter and witnesses who spoke to The Telegraph.

Multiple witnesses confirmed that he was later detained by authorities. Video footage shows security guards abducting him from the campus.

Officers forcibly detained the student

Approximately 10 security guards were caught on video forcing the young woman into a vehicle. The footage shows a group of police officers tackling him before he is taken into custody.

“Oh my God, how many of them attack a single person?” one viewer was heard saying. “I can’t believe what I saw,” said another.

“Around noon, near the entrance of the faculty, I saw a girl being grabbed by security forces and taken away by force,” an eyewitness told The Telegraph from Tehran.

“She wasn’t wearing a headscarf. They then reached the security building near the entrance, where a male and a female security guard grabbed her and tried to force her into the office.

“He resisted and his hoodie ripped off his body, which made him very angry and he took off the rest of his clothes.

“He shouted angrily at them and took off his trousers; He sat outside the campus for several minutes and the officer became even more aggressive.

“I couldn’t see much, but a few minutes after he started walking, several plainclothes police officers ambushed him and forced him into a car.”

Student media reported that he suffered injuries, including severe head trauma, after crashing into a vehicle during the arrest. Eyewitnesses said that traces of blood were seen at the scene.

#Daughter of Science and Research

The images have been widely shared in Iran, and the student has already become a powerful symbol of resistance, attracting nationwide attention with the hashtag “Daughter of Science and Research.”

A user shared the photo of the girl on X with the caption: “If courage had a face.” “That brave girl is my leader,” another user wrote.

The university’s public relations director, Amir Mahjoub, stated that he was transferred to the “police station” and claimed that he was “under severe mental stress and suffering from psychological disorders”.

Farhikhtegan newspaper, affiliated with the university, also claimed that the student had “serious psychological and mental problems”, based on “official and unofficial sources”.

The report also stated that he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after being handed over to the police by university security personnel.

His whereabouts and condition are unknown

No further information was given about his whereabouts and condition.

Amnesty International called on Iranian authorities to release the girl “immediately and unconditionally”.

It is not the first time that officials and media affiliated with the Islamic Republic have accused protesters of “mental illness” and forcibly placed them in psychiatric institutions. The protest echoes previous acts of civil disobedience, especially Vida Movahed, known as the “Girl of Enghelab Street”.

This show of defiance gained international attention in 2017, when a woman took off her headscarf and held it up on the end of a stick to protest the mandatory headscarf.

Observers drew parallels between these demonstrations and saw them as important moments in Iranian women’s ongoing struggle for personal freedoms.

After September 2022 Death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custodyIranian universities also faced increasing pressure and intense control. Protests led to actions Civil disobedience of Iranian women and girls Against compulsory headscarf.

New and stricter laws

All women in Iran are required to cover their hair with a headscarf and wear loose trousers under their coats in public, but an increasing number of Iranian women are appearing in public without a headscarf.

Iranian police and security forces They intensified enforcement of the rules. A new bill was drafted in the Iranian parliament to toughen regulations governing how men and women can dress in public, but authorities began implementing the law before it was officially approved.

Article 50 of the bill states that people who are “naked, half-naked or wearing clothes deemed inappropriate in public” will be immediately arrested and handed over to judicial authorities.

The bill also enforces gender discrimination in a wide range of settings, including universities, hospitals, educational and administrative centers, parks and tourist attractions.

People found to have violated the new rules will also face a six-month to two-year ban from leaving the country and using social media.

“These girls will fall down one day Ayatollah Ali KhameneiIran’s future belongs to free women, not women mullahsA student from Tehran told The Telegraph:

“She will be remembered as a hero by many women,” he said of the girl who attended the protest on Saturday. “After this regime falls, his picture will be everywhere in Iran, like Mahsa Amin’s and many others.”

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