DUBAI: Video footage showing Iranian police officerssexually assaulting a female protester as they attempt to arrest her has sparked outrage on social media.
The video, which was verified as genuine by the BBC, shows officers in protective gear and helmets surrounding a woman on a busy road. One of them grabs her by the neck and leads her to a group of fellow officers.
As she is being forced toward an officer on a motorbike, another officer approaches her from behind and inappropriately touches her. The woman then crouches and a female voice behind the camera can be heard saying: “They are pulling her hair.”
The protester, whose head does not appear to be covered by a hijab, then stands up and runs from the police. The same female voice then says: “Look at him (the officer), he is laughing.”
According to the BBC, the incident took place on Wednesday in Tehran’s Argentina Square. As the footage spread on social media, users called for the resignation of the police chief responsible for the officers.
According to Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency, Tehran’s Police Public Relations office said the incident is being investigated. The police statement did not comment on the scenes shown in the video but said that enemies are “using psychological warfare” to cause “public anxiety and incite violence.”
In an interview with the Fars News Agency, which is run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a police official denied the girl had been assaulted. “Such encounters are inevitable in riot scenes,” he said, according to London-based TV channel Iran International.
Last month, the US imposed sanctions on Iran’s so-called morality police and senior security officials “who have engaged in serious human rights abuses.” It followed the death in police custody on Sept. 16 of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who had been arrested on Sept. 13 for not following strict rules on head coverings.
Her death sparked ongoing protests across the country and there have been reports of brutal attacks by security forces on women during crackdowns on protesters. Many people have taken to social media to share their experiences and express their anger, fear and sorrow.
The video below, for example, obtained by Iran International, shows police dragging a woman into a police van as she screams.
The UN has called on Iranian authorities “to fully respect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association, as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” It condemned Amini’s death and said “Iran must repeal all legislation and policies that discriminate on the grounds of sex and gender, in line with international human rights standards.”
