Reuters, Oct. 4, 2018 – Two well-known human rights activists in Iran stated on Wednesday that a teenage girl was in critical condition in the hospital after slipping into a coma following what they claimed was an altercation with authorities on the Tehran subway for disobeying the hijab law.
The very sensitive nature of Armita Geravand’s case raises fears that the 16-year-old may share Mahsa Amini’s fate, a 22-year-old woman whose death in a coma while in the care of morality police last year provoked months of widespread outrage.
Iranian girl in severe condition following suspected hijab confrontation, campaigners claim
The Iranian-Kurdish rights group Hengaw published a photo showing Geravand asleep at a Tehran hospital where she was transported following the event, despite the fact that authorities have refuted assertions made by rights groups that she fell into a coma on Sunday after a clash with police who were enforcing the Islamic dress code.
A request for comment regarding the incident was not immediately met with a response from Iran’s interior ministry.
“We are paying great attention to her case. Her condition is critical and she is in the hospital’s intensive care unit. Her family reported that there are several people in plain clothing present at the facility, according to one of the Iranian activists.
The second activist claimed that security authorities had forbade Geravand’s parents from talking to human rights organizations or publicizing her photo on social media.
Due to the sensitivity of the subject, the campaigners spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Geravand was seen in CCTV footage shared on IRNA coming toward the train from the metro platform with two female acquaintances while without wearing the required hijab. One of the girls is seen backing up and grabbing for the ground as soon as she enters the cabin, and then passengers remove another girl out of the cabin while she is still unconscious.
The footage’s veracity could not immediately be confirmed by Reuters.
Masoud Dorosti, the CEO of the Tehran Metro Operating Company, told IRNA that there was no evidence of verbal or physical altercation between customers and business personnel in the CCTV tape.
When an Iranian journalist visited the hospital on Monday to learn more about Geravand’s condition, she was temporarily detained, according to Iranian media.
Iranian rights group Dadban posted on social media that “Iranian security institutions have said her condition was caused by low pressure, an oft-repeated scenario from such institutions.”
Her parents claimed that their daughter had experienced a dip in blood pressure, lost her balance, and hit her head inside the metro cabin in a video that was posted on the state news agency IRNA.
Although I’m unsure, her mother added, “I believe they have stated that my daughter’s pressure dropped.” She did, however, add that stirring up a fight would be pointless.
Rights organizations have urged police to release the video taken inside the cabin on social media, arguing that her parents’ statement was made under duress.
On social media platform X, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted: “Another young Iranian woman is struggling for her life. the sole reason that she exposed her hair in the train. It’s intolerable. The parents of #ArmitaGarawand have the right to be by their daughter’s bedside but do not belong in front of cameras.
