Woman, 22, dies after falling into coma while in custody of Iran’s morality police
Iranian state TV confirmed the death of Mahsa Amini in rolling news text without giving details, according to Reuters.
On Tuesday evening, Amini and her family, who had traveled from Iran’s Kurdistan region to visit relatives in the capital, Tehran, were stopped by a patrol of morality police — a dedicated unit that enforces strict dress codes for women, such as wearing the compulsory headscarf.
According to IranWire, human rights activists who have spoken to the family say the police grabbed Amini and forced her inside a police vehicle.
Her brother, Kiarash, attempted to intervene and was told his sister was being taken to the police station for one hour of “re-education,” IranWire reported.
Kiarash said he never saw his sister awake again.
While he was waiting outside the police station for her to be released, an ambulance pulled up and discreetly took his sister to the hospital.
In an interview with IranWire, Kiarash said he was told she had suffered a heart attack or a stroke while in the police station and that she was in a coma.
On Thursday, Tehran police confirmed that Amini had suffered a “heart attack” following her arrest on Tuesday and said “the woman was sent to a Greater Tehran police precinct for guidance and education when suddenly, in the presence of other people, she had a heart attack.”
Amini’s family have questioned the version of events given by police, saying she was a normal, healthy 22-year-old with no pre-existing heart conditions.
“There were only two hours between her arrest and being taken to hospital,” Kiarash told IranWire.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Raisi has instructed Iran’s interior minister to review what happened, according to Iranian state news agency ISNA.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/P4MZTHZ5BVGL5PVOX5D4TBSWTM.PNG)
