Iran: Police claim Mahsa’s death was unfortunate

 

In the hours following her detention by morality police for allegedly violating the hijab rules, Mahsa Amini, 22, went into a coma. Her beating by officers was allegedly witnessed by witnesses, however Police Brig-Gen Hossein Rahimi refuted these "cowardly charges."

 

Her passing spurred demonstrations in the nation's capital and western Iran, where two people are said to have died during Monday's skirmishes with riot police. Social media videos appeared to show residents of the town of Divandarreh throwing stones before fleeing when they came under fire.

 

The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was the subject of protests in the capital during which women tore off their headscarves and chanted, "Death to the tyrant" (a phrase frequently used in reference to him).

 

After three days in a coma, Ms. Amini, an ethnic Kurd from the western city of Saqez in the Kurdistan province, passed away at a hospital on Friday.

 

She was taken into custody by morality police on Tuesday in Tehran outside of a metro station. They charged her with disobeying the legislation mandating that women cover their arms and legs with loose clothing and their hair with a hijab.

 

Witnesses claim she was assaulted inside the police van transporting her to the detention facility. She allegedly experienced "sudden heart failure" while waiting with other women at the institution to be "educated," according to the police, who dismissed the accusation.

 

In the CCTV footage they published, a woman they described as Ms Amini was conversing with a female official when she was being grabbed by her clothing. She then collapses to the ground while holding her head with her hands.

 

According to the interior ministry, Ms. Amini "probably had preexisting physical concerns," on Saturday.

 

Her father, however, stated on Sunday that she was "healthy and had no health problems" to pro-reform news organizations. Additionally, he claimed that his daughter had bruises on her legs and that the CCTV tape depicted a "edited version" of the incident.

 

While expressing sympathy to Ms Amini's family on Monday, Brig-Gen Rahimi stressed that Ms Amini had not been hurt physically.

 

He told reporters, "The evidence reveals that there was no negligence or improper behaviour on the side of the police."

 

The incident led to significant condemnation of the morality police's recent campaign on "improper clothes," which was instigated by the death.

 

After her funeral on Saturday, protests broke out in Saqez, and security personnel reportedly opened fire on a mob that was marching towards the regional governor's office.

 

On Saturday and Sunday, there were also fights between protestors and riot police in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan.

 

On Sunday, the Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw said that at least 38 people had been hurt in the two cities.

 

Following Monday's skirmishes in Divandarreh, which is situated between Saqez and Sanandaj, Hengaw reported the deaths of two demonstrators. A 10-year-old girl was reportedly reported to have been shot in the head in Bukan, a city in the West Azerbaijan province.