Iranian authorities arrested a student on Saturday after she staged a solo protest against harassment by stripping naked outside her university, according to reports.
The woman, who was not identified, was harassed inside Tehran’s prestigious Azad University of Science and Research by members of the Basij militia who tore her headscarf and clothes, according to reports. information published by several media and social networks outside Iran.
She then took off her clothes in protest and sat outside the university, wearing only her underwear, before defiantly walking down the street, much to the astonishment of passersby, photos showed. videos posted on social networks.
Under Iran’s mandatory dress code, women must wear a headscarf in public and loose clothing that covers all contours of the body.
The images, which were first published by the Iranian student social media channel, the Amir Kabir Newsletter, were published by numerous Persian-language media outlets, including the legal affairs social media channel Dadban , the rights group Hengaw and the news site Iran Wire.
The footage appears to have been filmed by spectators in a nearby building. Another video showed her being put into a car by men in plain clothes and driven to an undisclosed location.
News bulletin Amir Kabir claimed she was beaten during her arrest.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the reports, but Iran’s conservative Fars news agency confirmed the incident in an article, publishing a heavily blurred photo of the student.
The student had worn “inappropriate clothing” to class and “stripped naked” after being warned by security officers to comply with the dress code.
Citing “witnesses”, he insisted that security officers had spoken “calmly” with the student and denied reports that their action had been aggressive.
Unprecedented women-led protests erupted in 2022 demanding the abolition of the mandatory dress code following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for an alleged offense.
The protests, which saw women break taboos by removing their headscarves and sometimes even burning them, calmed in the face of a crackdown that left 551 dead and thousands of arrests.
