Image description: A background of protesters with the iranian flag, Armita Garawand superimposed. End ID.
Image description: A background of protesters with the iranian flag, Armita Garawand superimposed. End ID.

Illustration by Dulce Pop-Bonini

One Year after Mahsa Amini : Armita Garawand in Coma at hands of Hijab Enforcer

According to eyewitnesses, 16-year-old Armita Garawand was violently pushed by a metro hijab enforcer for not wearing the hijab, falling into a coma.

Oct 8, 2023

A year after the case of 22-year-old Mahsa (Jina) Amini, who was beaten by Iran’s morality police due to alleged improper hijab and declared brain dead upon arrival to Kasra Hospital, 16-year-old Armita Garawand has suffered the same fate.
In CCTV footage released by Iranian state media, Armita can be seen walking into a train carriage with two female friends. Shortly after, the 16-year-old is dragged out of the carriage by friends and passengers, appearing unconscious. Analysis by Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab has detected an increase in frame rate in four sections and an unexplained missing gap of three minutes and 16 seconds in the video footage.
CCTV footage of inside the train carriage has not been released. Ameneh Sadat Zabihpour, an Iranian state media journalist, has claimed in a tweet that this is because the 100 series trains she was on do not have security cameras. According to an IranWire report, the released video footage showcases a 1200 series train, which, according to the Tehran Wagon Manufacturing Company, are all equipped with cameras.
Authorities claim that Armita fell due to a drop in blood pressure. However, an eyewitness has told IranWire that a middle-aged hijab enforcer started a verbal altercation with her due to her not wearing a headscarf, which ended with the enforcer pushing Armita, who hit the wall of the subway and was unable to get up.
Armita is currently in a coma in the intensive care unit of a Tehran military hospital under strict security measures. No visits are currently allowed, including from family members. Maryam Lotfi, a journalist for the “Shargh” newspaper who had visited the medical center, was detained and later released.
Although there has been no official confirmation of this arrest, Armita’s mother, Shahin Ahmadi, has also been detained by authorities.
Azadeh is a contributing writer. Email them at feedback@thegazelle.org.
gazelle logo