Young Iranian woman in coma two hours after morality police arrest, activists say

The incident comes as controversy grows over the conduct of the gasht-e ershad, or guidance patrol, which monitors and enforces the dress code in Iran. EPA

A young Iranian woman is in a coma and fighting for her life after being arrested in Tehran by the country's morality police, campaigners said on Thursday.

Mahsa Amini, 22, was on a visit to the Iranian capital with her family when she was detained by the special police unit that enforces the strict dress rules for women, including the compulsory headscarf.

Her brother Kiaresh told news website Iran Wire news website that while he was waiting outside the police station for her to be released, an ambulance drove up and took her to hospital.

He was told that she had had a heart attack and a brain seizure and was now in a coma.

“There were only two hours between her arrest and being taken to hospital,” he said.

Vowing to file a criminal complaint he added: “I have nothing to lose. I will not let this end without making a noise.”

A statement by the Tehran police confirmed she had been detained for “explanation and instruction” about the dress rules, along with other women.

“She suddenly suffered a heart problem while in the company of other guided people [and] … was immediately taken to the hospital with the co-operation of police and emergency services,” police said.

It is not yet known what happened between her arrival at the police station and her departure for hospital.

The 1500tasvir social media channel, which chronicles rights abuses by the Iranian police, posted a picture of her in hospital with a tube in her mouth.

The 27-year-old, who has been rock climbing since she was 13, has distinguished herself in international competitions despite the barriers she faces as a female athlete in conservative Iran.

Gyms in the Islamic Republic, including the facility where she practices on an artificial climbing wall, have separate and limited hours for women.

Rock climbers, like other female athletes, must adhere to the country’s conservative dress code by wearing long, loose garments and covering their hair.

“For me, climbing rocks is part of life, a symbol of overcoming the barriers of life,” Ms Esmaeilzadeh says.

“What I do is to change things that people think are norms. I feel there is no difference between men and women.”

Some 200 Iranian women compete in nationwide rock climbing events, and many more climb recreationally.

Women are not allowed to work with male coaches, denying them access to the country’s most experienced trainers.

“Sickening,” the Iranian-British actress and campaigner Nazanin Boniadi wrote on Twitter. “How many innocent young lives must be brutally robbed before we all rise?”

Iranian freedom of expression campaigner Hossein Ronaghi wrote on social media: “Mahsa Amini's situation is an example of an intentional crime.

“The systematic suppression of Iranian women under the pretext of enforcing the hijab by the guidance patrol and the police force is a crime.”

The incident comes as controversy grows — both inside and outside Iran — over the conduct of the gasht-e ershad, or guidance patrol, which monitors and enforces the dress code in Iran.

The hijab has been compulsory for women in Iran since shortly after the 1979 revolution that ousted the shah.

Some women, encouraged by the US-based campaigner Masih Alinejad, have sought to protest the rule by removing their hijabs in public.

In mid-July, a young Iranian woman, Sepideh Rashno, disappeared in mid-July after becoming involved with a dispute on a Tehran bus with another woman who accused her of removing her headscarf.

She was held by the Revolutionary Guards and appeared on TV in what activists said was a forced confession. She was released on bail in late August after about a month and a half behind bars.