Iranian teenager dead in mysterious incident with morality police

Just weeks after the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, the mortality police on the Tehran metro allegedly killed Amrita Geravand, a 16-year-old Iranian girl. Female mortality police officers approached the girl before she arrived at the metro station and asked her to adjust her hijab. The request resulted in an altercation where the officers physically assaulted Geravand. She managed to enter the metro, collapsing shortly afterward. Security camera footage shows a group of girls carrying her limp body out of the train. 

The footage, which only shows the outside of the train, has left news outlets unable to verify the altercation. The teenager suffered from brain damage that put her in a coma. She was declared brain-dead and passed away on Oct. 28.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country’s former president, established the “morality police,” a unit of Iran’s police force. Wearing a hijab was mandatory since 1983, but it was not until 2006 that the morality police began patrolling the streets, enforcing the dress code. 

Geravand’s death has caused outrage across Iran, as it reignites the anger from 22-year-old Mahsa Amini’s death under the custody of Iranian morality police. On Sept. 13, 2022, Amini was arrested in Tehran for opposing the mandatory headscarf rule, with reports indicating that officers severely beat her during the arrest. She collapsed later on and eventually passed away three days later. 

Mahsa Amini’s death caused one of the greatest protests in Iranian history. The country had not seen a larger eruption of chaos since the 1979 revolution. By the end of the year, the Iranian government arrested 50,000 protesters, and over 500 died.

“I was supposed to travel to Iran with my family for the summer,” Walter Johnson freshman Ava Kaveh said. “While planning the trip, we realized it was dangerous to go. Authorities were killing masses of people without reason… people who were out in the streets protesting, or simply just making songs about the situation.” 

Geravand’s parents stated in an interview that she hit her head after fainting, supporting the Iranian authority’s statements on the incident. However, UN human rights officials and rights groups have accused the Iranian authorities of pressuring the families of killed protestors to disclose information regarding their narrative. Geravand’s friend Mahla said, “the claims that we have been warned about hijab and that someone has pushed Armita is a lie and absolutely untrue.”

Sophia Serrano, a senior at The University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, expressed concern over the lack of awareness about this issue. “I was aware of the inadequate women’s rights in Iran. I think most people are. But American news doesn’t cover specific topics like this as much,” she said. “People would probably prefer to live in oblivion.”

Serrano added, “I think that it’s also an issue of people not wanting to feel bad about not doing anything. They can’t feel guilty about not protesting or not speaking out if they have no clue in the first place.”

Authorities expect protests to increase in Iran as this incident will only motivate anti-government protesters to continue fighting.

Written by Ninia Sopromadze of Walter Johnson High School 

Photo Courtesy of Kayhanlife