An Iranian teenaged girl is in critical condition in hospital after falling into a coma following what two prominent rights activists said was a confrontation with agents in the Tehran metro for violating the stringent hijab law, news agency Reuters reported. Armita Geravand’s case is highly sensitive as the 16-year-old might face the same fate as Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old girl whose death in the custody of morality police sparked months of nationwide protest.
Armita Geravand went into a coma on Sunday after a confrontation with officers, Iranian-Kurdish rights group Hengaw said posting her picture that was taken after the incident.
“We are following her case closely. She is in coma at Intensive Care Unit of the hospital and her condition is critical … her relatives said there is a heavy presence of plain clothes at the hospital,” one of the activists in Iran said while another told Reuters that security forces had stopped Armita Geravand’s parents from posting her picture on social media.
CCTV footage, shared on IRNA, showed Armita Geravand without hijab accompanied by two female friends walking toward the train from the metro platform. The head of the Tehran Metro Operating Company told IRNA that the footage showed no sign of verbal or physical conflict between passengers or company employees.
An Iranian journalist was briefly arrested when she went to the hospital to inquire about Geravand’s situation, it was reported.
“Iranian security institutions have said her condition was caused by low pressure – an oft-repeated scenario from such institutions,” Iran-based rights group Dadban said.
The girl’s parents said that their daughter had suffered a drop in blood pressure, lost her balance, and hit her head inside the metro cabin.
“I think my daughter’s blood pressure dropped, I am not too sure, I think they have said her pressure dropped,” her mother said.
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