Armita, 16, in Coma after Tehran Subway Assault by Hijab Authorities

The 16-year-old Iranian girl who fell into a coma after being pushed by hijab enforcement officers in a Tehran subway station for not wearing a headscarf has been identified as Armita Geravand.

The Norway-based Hengaw group, which monitors rights violations in Iran's Kurdish regions, reported on October 3 that Armita, from western Kermanshah province, is under stringent security measures at Fajr Air Force Hospital.

Earlier, two sources with knowledge of the matter told IranWire that the teenager is in a coma. 

She was transported to the hospital by an ambulance of the Tehran Municipality on October 1 due to a "head trauma and visible head injuries," the sources said.

Drop in Blood Pressure?

Meanwhile, Armita’s parents were brought in front of a camera to recite the official version of the incident.

A video published by the official IRNA news agency shows the mother saying that Armita lost consciousness following a drop in blood pressure.

She says the teenager was taken to hospital by ambulance, while her father claims she was transported in a taxi.

A woman introduced as a relative also appears in the clip saying that the family saw CCTV footage from the metro station. She denied that the teenager was assaulted.

The surveillance camera recordings from Shohada metro station have not been made available to the public.

Meanwhile, the security agencies of the Islamic Republic imposed severe restrictions on reporting the incident at the subway station. 

Maryam Lotfi, a reporter for Shargh newspaper who went to the hospital to report on the girl’s condition, was detained for a few hours.

Masoud Dorosti, CEO of the Tehran Metro Operation Company, has told IRNA that "a 16-year-old female student fainted due to low blood pressure at around seven o'clock in the morning on Sunday."

"The young person was assisted out of the train by fellow passengers, including one who appeared to be a doctor,” Dorosti added. “Metro staff promptly initiated preliminary treatment, while simultaneously requesting assistance from the emergency services. The emergency response team swiftly arrived at the scene, provided initial care, and stabilized the student's condition before transporting her to the hospital."

When asked about the possibility of a conflict between metro staff and the student, Dorosti stated, "There were no verbal or physical altercation between the student and passengers or metro personnel. Rumors about a confrontation between metro personnel and the student are baseless and are contradicted by metro security footage."

Many images published on social networks and government media show hijab enforcement officers warning women without a headscarf in Tehran’s metro system. The incidents sometimes lead to verbal and physical altercations.

Will History Repeat Itself?

For many Iranian social media users, the incident echoes the case of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in custody a year ago after being arrested by morality police in Tehran for allegedly wearing her mandatory hijab improperly. 

Amini fell into a coma and died three days later, on September 16, 2022, sparking months of nationwide protests demanding more freedoms and women’s rights.

The authorities claim the young woman died of natural causes, but eyewitnesses and her family say she was beaten while inside a police van that took her to a detention center.