A young woman walking barefoot in her underwear, without a veil, with her hair down, in Iran. The very striking image of an Iranian student undressing to protest against the harassment of Revolutionary Guard militiamen went around the world and the act of courage, seen millions of times on social networks, was praised in many countries.
The student, whose identity is not known, was arrested and her fate remains uncertain. Here's what we know.
A video that went viral in Iran and around the world
Saturday November 2, 2024, a young woman appeared undressed in front of an Iranian university. A video of the event was posted by the Iranian student website Amir Kabir. It was then taken up by numerous Persian sites including the legal site Dadban, the human rights group Hengaw and the news site Iran Wireas relayed l'AFP.
According to the first activists who relayed the video, the young woman was harassed by members of the Basidj militia.
Although the young woman appears to be called Ahou Daryaei, her identity is unknown with certainty. We only know that she was a student at the prestigious Azad University in Tehran. She was a student of French languages and literature. The university explained that she was the mother of two children.
The Iranian agency Fars reported the incident and published a blurred photo of the student. According to the agency, the young woman was wearing clothes “inappropriate” in class and “get out” after being warned by security officers.
Islamic law in Iran imposes a very strict dress code on women, who are required to wear headscarves and loose clothing that conceals their shapes.
Read also: Two young women arrested in Iran for dancing in public
Since her arrest, the student's fate has been unknown.
The young woman was directly arrested. Other images show the student being thrown into a car by men in plain clothes. Accusations of beatings and violence were brought. “The allegations of beatings and sexual violence against him during his arrest must be the subject of an independent and impartial investigation”asked Amnesty Iran, branch of Amnesty International, which is calling for his release “immediate and unconditional”.
His fate is completely unknown since this video.
According to the agency Farsciting “witnesses”, the agents have spoken “calmly” at the young woman and did not act aggressively. The university, through its spokesperson on “mental problems”. A strategy often used by the Iranian regime to discredit demonstrators, recalls an article in the media Iran Wire.
Wave of global emotion, the UN affirms that it will follow this affair “closely”
Since then, the video has gone viral around the world. Mai Sato, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, promised on “would follow this incident closely”.
Iranian women are at the origin of an unprecedented revolt movement in the country after the death of the young Kurd Mahsa Amini in September 2022, arrested for not having respected the dress code.
Read also : Death of Mahsa Amini in Iran: two years later, repression continues to counter the spirit of revolt
The Femme Vie Liberté movement has been massively repressed by the Iranian authorities, with at least 551 deaths and thousands of people arrested, according to NGOs.
