An Iranian female journalist and activist took to Twitter and posted a video of Iranian women burning their hijabs and cutting their hair to protest against the Mahsa Amini’s death.
Protests persisted on Sunday and # Mahsa Amini became one of the top hashtags ever on Persian-language Twitter as Iranians fumed over the death of a young woman in the custody of morality police enforcing strict hijab rules.
Amini, 22, died on Friday after falling into a coma following her arrest in Tehran earlier in the week. The case has put a spotlight on women’s rights in Iran.
The Iranian journalist wrote: “From the age of 7 if we don’t cover our hair we won’t be able to go to school or get a job. We are fed up with this gender apartheid regime.”
Iranian women show their anger by cutting their hair and burning their hijab to protest against the killing of #Mahsa_Amini by hijab police.
From the age of 7 if we don’t cover our hair we won’t be able to go to school or get a job. We are fed up with this gender apartheid regime pic.twitter.com/nqNSYL8dUb— Masih Alinejad ????️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 18, 2022
Police rejected suspicions aired on social media that she was beaten, saying she fell ill as she waited with other detained women.
“Authorities have said my daughter suffered from chronic medical conditions. I personally deny such claims as my daughter was fit and had no health problems,” Amini’s father told the pro-reform Emtedad news website on Sunday.
Hundreds of protesters gathered on Sunday around the University of Tehran, shouting “Woman, Life, Freedom”, according to online videos.
Under Iran’s sharia law, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes. Offenders face public rebuke, fines or arrest. But in recent months activists have urged women to remove veils despite the rulers’ crackdown on “immoral behaviour”.
