LONDON: Footage circulating online appears to show the violent arrest with a dog-catching pole of an Iranian woman accused of breaking morality laws.
The footage shows the unidentified woman being pulled violently by her hair through the streets of Tehran, ensnared by the catchpole, before being bundled into a “morality police” van.
Two men and a woman are seen forcing her into the van as she tries to resist. The victim’s head is smashed into the roof of the van as she is pushed inside.
Today in Iran.
Soon enough Taliban would do the same again to the women of Afghanistan.
Taliban And Islamic Republic will never be really reformed.— Masih Alinejad (@AlinejadMasih)
Masih Alinejad, a prominent Iranian women’s rights campaigner who uploaded the footage, said the woman was arrested for failing to wear a head covering, which is mandatory for women in the country. “Unveiled women (are accused) of prostitution or creating moral corruption,” she tweeted.
Tehran’s police chief said the woman was arrested for being “insulting and aggressive,” but Alinejad said police often “make up other charges” against women who breach morality laws.
Police told Iranian media that further charges had been brought by a local shop owner, but they did not disclose what charges or by whom.
Tehran’s police also did not say whether the woman was injured during the arrest, but pledged to investigate the footage.
Alinejad said it is a “big lie” that officers will be held accountable for their actions. “Last time when morality police savagely beat women, police showed the same reaction,” she added. “But as soon as the atmosphere calmed down, they prosecuted the woman who filmed it.”
Rights groups have long criticized Iran’s treatment of women in Iran, who face discrimination across a host of areas.
