Roving Periscope: Iran on a boil again as police beat schoolgirl, 15, to death
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Angry Iranian women, running an anti-hijab movement with support from many men since September, further intensified their protests on Thursday after reports of police beating to death a 15-year-old schoolgirl for refusing to sing a pro-regime anthem praising Supreme Leader Ayatollah Al Khameini in her classroom.
Security forces, who raided a school, forced the pupils to sing the song and thrashed many of them when they protested. Asra Panahi later succumbed to her injuries, the media reported.
Iran’s Human Rights Activists News Agency estimates that at least 224 people have been killed in a month of protests, though widespread internet blackouts made it difficult to confirm fatalities.
The ghastly incident took place on Wednesday last week at the Shahid Girls High School in the northwestern city of Ardabil. Fifteen-year-old Asra Panahi was one of the several students injured in the incident. She died on Friday last, according to a statement by the Coordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates.
Iranian officials denied the security forces’ responsibility for the teenager’s death. A man claiming to be Panahi’s uncle appeared on state television claiming she died from a congenital heart condition, The Guardian reported.
After her death, the teachers’ union posted a statement on Sunday condemning the “brutal and inhumane” raids and demanded the resignation of Iran’s Education Minister, Yousef Nouri.
The BBC said seven students were injured and 10 arrested in the incident last Wednesday.
According to the UN Human Rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani, “Some sources suggest that the police have killed 23 children, and injured many others in at least seven Iranian provinces by live ammunition, metal pellets at close range, and fatal beatings.”
The women’s anti-hijab protests in Iran began after the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in police custody for allegedly violating the Shia Islamic country’s strict rules requiring women to cover their faces with hijab. The women’s movement, marked by the chopping of hair and burning of the Islamic veil, quickly spread to several countries, including Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and Turkey, as they confronted male police officers and shouted slogans. Many celebrities also supported the women’s campaign.
Besides Mahsa Amini and Asra Panahi, three other girls—Nika Shahkarami, Setareh Tajik, and Sarina Esmailzadeh—have died so far in police action against the women’s campaign.
Since the death of Mahsa Amini, widespread protests broke out across the Islamic Republic and school girls also joined in these demonstrations. Videos on social media went viral, showing girls in schoolyards and classrooms in Iran standing up to traditional symbols of authority.
In many of the videos, women could be seen confronting male officials with slogans like “Woman, life, freedom” and “Death to the dictator” – a reference to the supreme leader.
To clamp down on these schoolgirls, Iranian officials launched a series of raids on schools, forcing their way into classrooms, violently arresting them, and sometimes brutally assaulting them — resulting in the death of some.
Amnesty International reported that Iran’s security forces killed at least 23 children since the women’s anti-hijab protests broke out on September 16 over Mahsa Amini’s death. The victims included 20 boys aged between 11 and 17; and three girls, two of whom were 16-year- old and one 17-year-old. Security forces killed most of the boys unlawfully firing live ammunition at them. Two boys died after being shot with metal pellets at close range, while three girls and a boy died after fatal beatings by security forces.
The situation in Iran also prompted the European Union and the United States to adopt sanctions on Iran, with several condemning the regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters.
