https://arab.news/9smp5
- Users call for the man to be arrested after clip goes viral
- Probe underway by independent body overseeing clerics
LONDON: A video of a man dressed as a cleric beating an elderly woman has sparked outrage in Iran.
The undated clip, which went viral over the weekend on social media, shows the man in Gilan Province, northern Iran, assaulting the woman and destroying a wooden gate. It appears they had a dispute over property.
Several users took to the internet to express their outrage, with some saying this was typical of the behavior of the country’s clerics, even though the affiliation and identity of the man has not yet been determined.
Iranian human rights activist Hossein Ronaghi said that the upsetting images are a stark reminder of the way women are abused in the country and that the man should be prosecuted.
“Instead of the brave women of Iran, you should bring this shameless person to the television and put him on trial,” he said in a Twitter post.
A user said the “mullah definition of morality differs from ours,” calling the episode “an example of their morality being practiced in Iran.”
A Twitter profile that appears to belong to an Iranian woman compared the country’s morality police to the nation’s clerics, saying: “They wear clerical clothes and have built-in cameras. They think we are dumb and don’t understand!”
The sharing of videos of clerics being assaulted on social media is a source of concern for the regime in Iran.
Many Iranians are unhappy with the power the clergy have, and in protests since last September, there havebeen numerous cases of young people verbally assaulting or expressing their dissatisfaction with clerics.
In some cases, young people have filmed themselves tossing the turbans of clerics in the streets, an act of defiance against the ultra-conservative government.
Local authorities said the incident was under investigation and the case was now with the provincial court for clerics, an administration that operates independently.
The court’s decisions are not made public, so it would be unclear what penalties the person would face if found guilty.