16-year-old Kurdish girl attacked by the Iranian "morality police" in a coma for three days

Kurdish girl Armita Girawend was violently attacked by the Iranian police and has been in a coma for three days.

According to the Iranian media reports, 16-year-old Kurdish girl Armita Girawend was subjected to violence by the so-called “morality police” in a subway station in the capital Tehran on 1 October.

Armita Girawend, who comes from Kermanshah, lost consciousness and has been fighting for her life for three days.

According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association, citing eyewitnesses, an argument erupted after the morality police warned a group of girls to “wear the hijab properly”. Armita Girawend was battered and hit on the head during the quarrel, after which she fell down and moved on to the subway with the help of her friends. She is reported to have lost consciousness and gone into a coma afterwards.

The circulation of the footage on the subway and the reporting on the incident are prevented by the state. A journalist who attempted to enter the hospital where Girawend is held was taken into custody, according to reports.

The incident comes only one year after the case of 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the so-called morality police on 13 September 2022 during a family visit in Tehran because she did not wear her hijab as prescribed. She was severely tortured and fell into a coma in custody and died on 16 September at the intensive care unit of Kasra Hospital in Tehran. 

The state femicide of Jina Mahsa Amini triggered a revolution under the motto "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" (Woman, Life, Freedom) across the country. The women-led uprisings that spread from Rojhilat to the whole of Iran have created an irreversible revolution in people's minds, resulting in the deaths of at least 500 people and injuries to thousands more. Despite the family’s complaint against those responsible for Amini’s death, no action has been taken so far.