Iranian female student strips to underwear
PARIS—Iranian authorities arrested a female student on Saturday after she staged a solo protest against harassment by stripping to her underwear outside her university, reports said.
The woman, who has not been identified, had been harassed inside Tehran’s prestigious Islamic Azad University by members of the Basij paramilitary force who ripped her headscarf and clothes, according to news reports and social media channels outside Iran.
She then took off her clothes in protest and sat outside the university dressed in just her underwear before defiantly walking in the street to the astonishment of passersby, videos posted on social media showed.
Under the dress code mandatory in Iran, women must wear a headscarf and loose-fitting clothes in public.
The footage, which was first posted by Iranian student social media channel the Amir Kabir newsletter, was published by numerous Persian-language outlets, including the Hengaw rights group and Iran Wire news website, as well as Amnesty International.
Another video showed her being bundled into a car by men in plain clothes and driven off to an undisclosed location.
‘Inappropriate’
The Amir Kabir newsletter alleged she was beaten during the arrest.
“Iran’s authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the university student who was violently arrested after she removed her clothes in protest against abusive enforcement of compulsory veiling by security officials,” Amnesty said.
Iran’s conservative Fars news agency confirmed the incident in a report, publishing a picture with the student heavily blurred out.
It said the student had worn “inappropriate clothes” in class and “stripped” after being warned by security guards to comply with the dress code.
Citing “witnesses,” it said the security guards spoke “calmly” with the student and denied the reports that their action had been aggressive.
University spokesperson Amir Mahjob said on X that “at the police station, … it was found that she was under severe mental pressure and had a mental disorder.”
Near-nationwide protests erupted in 2022 following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for an alleged breach of the dress code.
