Friday , 29 March 2024

Iran police slams ‘cowardly accusations’: Mahsa Amini ‘dressed inappropriately’

Al-Arabia – Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who died after being detained by Tehran’s morality police last week, was “dressed inappropriately,” the Iranian capital’s police chief said on Monday, denying “cowardly accusations” that she was beaten.

Mahsa Amini (left) in a hospital bed after sustaining injuries from being detained by Tehran’s morality police and Greater Tehran Police Commander Hossein Rahimi (right). (Twitter)

Speaking at a press conference, Greater Tehran Police Commander Hossein Rahimi said Amini was stopped by the morality police, known as “Gasht-e Ershad,” while walking in a park because her hijab was “inappropriate.”

Rahimi denied allegationsAmini was beaten by police officers, saying “cowardly accusations have been levelled against the police.”

“There was no negligence on the part of the police, not even a small slip; all the words published in cyberspace about the cause of death are pure lies.”

Rahimi said “there was no argument or resistance” during Amini’s detention, claiming she was “even joking” while inside the morality police’s van.

Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, fell into a coma shortly after being arrested in Tehran by the morality police on September 13 and was pronounced dead on Friday, prompting protests on social media and on the streets.

Tehran’s police said Amini “suddenly had a heart problem” while in detention, and state-run outlets ran stories claiming she suffered from multiple health conditions prior to her arrest.

But Amini’s parents have said that their daughter did not have any health conditions prior to being detained. Activists say she was beaten while in detention, causing her serious injuries that led to her death.

Amjad Amini, Mahsa Amini’s father, “insists that his daughter had no history of illness and was in perfect health,” the semi-official Fars news agency, which interview him, wrote on Sunday.

Hijab, which was made mandatory for women in Iran shortly after the country’s 1979 revolution, is considered a red line for Iran’s theocratic rulers. Women who break the strict dress code risk being harassed and arrested by Iran’s morality police.

Based on the dress code, women are required to fully cover their hair in public and wear long, loose-fitting clothes.

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