22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini has died after “a severe blow to the head” by the vice squad on the day of her arrest. That’s what her cousin living in Iraq says. The death of the young woman has sparked heavy protests against the regime in the Iranian capital Tehran for weeks.
On September 13, Amini was with her parents and her 17-year-old brother in Tehran for a family visit, cousin Erfan Salih Mortezaee testified to the French news agency AFP. He has been living in Iraqi Kurdistan for a year, where he joined the Iranian-Kurdish nationalist group Komala. Komala has been targeting the Iranian regime for years.
Together with some other family members, Amini wanted to see Tehran, and when leaving a metro station, they bumped into the vice squad. The cousin says he heard the story from Amini’s mother. The younger brother tried to explain to the officers that they were in Tehran for the first time and did not know the local traditions.
“However, the officer didn’t listen and said they would pick her up, teach her the rules, teach her how to wear the hijab and how to dress,” the nephew said. He assures that she “dressed like all women in Iran and wore a hijab”. In Iran women have to cover the hair and the whole body below the knees, but in daily life many women allow themselves a certain freedom.
“The officers beat Jhina (the Kurdish name of the woman, ed.), in front of her brother,” the cousin continues. “They hit her arms and her legs with a stick.” Together with other female relatives, she was taken in a van, and in the van the beatings continued. There Amini received a blow to the head, after which she lost consciousness.
After arriving at the office, Amini had to wait another hour and a half before being transferred to the hospital. After three days in a coma, she died on September 16. According to the nephew, the doctors in the hospital also said that the woman received “a heavy blow to the head”.
The authorities in Tehran deny any involvement in the death of Mahsa Amini.
Already 76 dead
Meanwhile, Iranians have been taking to the streets against the regime for almost two weeks. According to Iran’s state news agency Fars, 60 people have already been killed. The NGO Iran Human Rights, based in Oslo, reports 76 deaths. More than 1,200 people have already been arrested, authorities said.
The police leadership warned on Wednesday that they will continue to oppose the demonstrators with all their strength. “The enemies of the Islamic Republic and certain rioters are today trying to disrupt the order and security of the nation, using all sorts of pretexts,” the police said in a press release.
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