Iranian teenager Armita Garawand, an ethnic Kurd, tragically passed away on Saturday, a month after falling into a coma following an incident on Tehran’s metro. The 16-year-old student, hailing from the city of Kermanshah in Kurdish-populated western Iran, had been hospitalized in Tehran after she fell unconscious during a subway journey.
Her case first gained attention on October 3 when the Kurdish-focused rights group Hengaw reported that she had been critically injured during an incident on the underground train network.
Authorities claimed that her condition was due to a sudden drop in blood pressure and denied any “physical or verbal altercations” had occurred between her and other passengers. In contrast, rights groups contended that she had been critically wounded during an alleged assault by members of Iran’s morality police.
Here’s what happened:
The victim, Armita Garawand, had been badly injured in a confrontation on the Tehran metro with female police officers over not wearing a headscarf, said Kurdish-focused rights group Hengaw.
Iranian authorities, however, denied their involvement and said that Amrita “fainted” because of low blood pressure.
However, a purported video of the incident showed otherwise. One can see the teen being pushed into the metro by female police agents and then an unconscious body being pulled out.
VIDEO: 16-year-old Armita Garawand was reportedly assaulted by Iran’s morality police. She remains in a coma. Last year, Iranian police killed Masha Amini in a similar incident, sparking nationwide protests. pic.twitter.com/OwC4Tn4FbJ
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 3, 2023
This incident was reminiscent of the death of Mahsa Amini, another young Iranian Kurd, who had tragically passed away just over a year earlier. Her death followed her arrest by the morality police for allegedly breaching Iran’s strict dress code for women, leading to mass protests across the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday that doctors stated Garawand had “suffered a fall resulting in brain damage followed by continued convulsions, a decline in brain oxygen, and a cerebral edema after a sudden drop in blood pressure.”
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