Witness Says Iranian Girl in Coma Was “Pushed” by Woman

A 16-year-old Iranian girl who has been hospitalized in a coma for five days collapsed after being violently “pushed” by a chador-clad woman in a Tehran subway train because the teenager did not wear a head covering, a witness told IranWire. 

On the morning of October 1, Armita Geravand and two female friends boarded a subway carriage in Tehran's Shohada station, the witness said. The girls were wearing school uniforms and had headscarves draped over their shoulders.

"A middle-aged woman, who was wearing a patterned scarf and a chador, engaged in a dispute with Armita as soon as she entered the train carriage because she didn’t wear her headscarf," the witness said. "After a brief verbal exchange, the middle-aged woman physically assaulted Armita and pushed her, causing her to fall." 

Armita's friends took her out of the train before it continued on its route, the witness said, adding that the assailant disembarked at the next station. 

CCTV footage shared by government-affiliated media showed Armita without a hijab accompanied by two friends walking toward the train from the metro platform. Upon entering the carriage, one of the girls is seen backing off and reaching for the ground, before another girl is dragged unconscious from the cabin.

Footage from inside the train has not been released, despite evidence suggesting that the train car had CCTV cameras.

Authorities claim that Armita fainted due to a drop in blood pressure.

The human rights group Hengaw said Armita’s mother, Shahin Ahmadi, was arrested and that her whereabouts are unknown, suggesting that the authorities fear she does not support the official narrative of the incident.