Anti-hijab protests in Iran continued Tuesday in response to a woman who died in police custody after being arrested for not wearing the headscarf properly.
Women threw their hijabs into a bonfire in Sari, and another woman stood atop a car while holding her burning hijab on a stick in Tehran, according to the BBC.
This is Iran today. A woman proudly burning the most visible symbol of religious dictatorship; compulsory hijab.
Hijab police killed #MahsaAmini but now there are millions of Mahsa in Iran who are shouting NO to Forced hijab NO to gender apartheid regime.#????_????? pic.twitter.com/9tzd9IRwgB— Masih Alinejad ?? (@AlinejadMasih) September 19, 2022
Footage of other protests captured people shouting, “Women, life, freedom” and destroying posters of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while shouting “Death to the dictator,” CNN reported.
At least seven people, including one member of Iran’s security forces, have been killed in the unrest that entered its fifth day Tuesday, according to multiple outlets.
The protests are the most sustained demonstration against the nation’s leadership since the public erupted over spiking gas prices in 2019.
This wave of protests comes after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was arrested early last week for violating the compulsory hijab law for women.
She was detained in Tehran by morality police — who enforce the strict dress code for women — for one hour of “re-education,” according to IranWire.
Amini died later that week after slipping into a coma and being hospitalized for what Tehran police said was a heart problem.
Her uncle told the news outlet Etemad that these claims were “pure lies” and said she was healthy, as reported by IranWire.
Nada al-Nashif, the acting U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a Tuesday statement that there were reports that police beat Amini’s head with a baton and banged her head against one of their vehicles.
“Mahsa Amini’s tragic death and allegations of torture and ill-treatment must be promptly, impartially and effectively investigated by an independent competent authority, that ensures, in particular, that her family has access to justice and truth,” Ms. al-Nashif said.