An Iranian student undressed in protest against the strict hijab dress code

A university student in Tehran stripped down to her underwear in protest after being harassed by campus security officers because of her hijab.

The videos, which have been widely shared on social media, show an unidentified female student sitting outside the campus in her underwear while security guards surround her.

In another video, she is seen walking around campus in a bra and panties, while stunned fellow students film her on their cellphones.

Her act of resistance began after a standoff at the Azad University Research Center on Saturday, when security forces physically assaulted a student for not wearing a headscarf.

According to the Iranian student social media news channel Amir Kabir and witnesses who spoke to The Telegraph, in response to having her clothes ripped off, she decided to take off her remaining clothes in protest.

Several witnesses confirmed her subsequent detention by the authorities. In the video, security officers can be seen abducting her from the campus.

Officers detain the student by force

The video showed about 10 guards forcefully pushing the young woman into the car. The footage shows a group of officers beating her up before she was taken into custody.

“Oh God, how many of them attack just one person?” – heard one viewer. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” said another.

“Around noon at the entrance to the faculty, I saw a girl who was grabbed and taken away by force,” one of the witnesses from Tehran told The Telegraph.

“She didn’t wear a headscarf. They then reached the security building at the entrance, where a male and female security guard grabbed her and tried to force her into the office.

“She resisted and her hoodie was ripped off her body, this made her very angry and she took off the rest of her clothes.

“She angrily yelled at them and took off her pants – she sat outside the campus for a few minutes and the officer became more aggressive.

“I didn’t see much, but a few minutes after she started walking, several plain-clothes police officers ambushed her and pushed her into the car.”

Student media reported that she suffered injuries during her arrest, including a severe brain injury after being hit by a car. According to eyewitnesses, traces of blood were visible at the scene.

#Girl of science and research

The footage was widely circulated in Iran, and the student has already become a powerful symbol of resistance, attracting the attention of the entire country under the hashtag: “Girl of Science and Research.”

“If courage had a face,” wrote one user on X with a photo of the girl. “This brave girl is my leader,” another user wrote.

Amir Mahjoub, director of public relations at the university, said she was transferred to a “police station” and claimed she was under “severe mental stress and suffering from psychological disorders.”

Farhikhtegan, a newspaper linked to the university, also claimed, citing “official and unofficial sources”, that the student had “serious psychological and mental problems”.

The report added that after university security officers handed her over to the police, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

Location and condition unknown

No further information was available on her whereabouts or condition.

Amnesty International called on the Iranian authorities to release the girl “immediately and unconditionally”.

This is not the first time that officials and media linked to the Islamic Republic have accused protesters of “mental disorders” and forcibly placed them in mental institutions. The protest repeats previous acts of civil disobedience, in particular Vida Movahed, known as “Girl from Engelab Street”.

This show of defiance attracted international attention in 2017 when a woman removed her headscarf and raised it on the tip of a stick while standing in protest against the mandatory wearing of the hijab.

Observers draw parallels between these demonstrations, seeing them as key moments in the ongoing struggle of Iranian women for personal freedom.

After September 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Aminiand subsequent protests, Iranian universities have also experienced increased repression and increased control. Protests led to acts civil disobedience of Iranian women and girls against the mandatory wearing of the hijab.

New tougher laws

All women in Iran must cover their hair with a headscarf and wear loose trousers under their coats when in public, but more and more Iranian women are appearing in public without head coverings.

Iranian police and security forces have strengthened control over the implementation of the rules. A new bill moving through Iran’s parliament is meant to tighten rules governing how women and men can dress in public, but authorities have begun enforcing it before it is officially approved.

Article 50 of the bill states that anyone found “naked, semi-naked or wearing clothing considered indecent in public” will be immediately arrested and brought to justice.

The bill also introduces gender segregation in many places, including universities, hospitals, educational and administrative centers, parks and tourist facilities.

People who violate the new rules also face a ban on leaving the country and using social media for a period of six months to two years.

“These girls will fall one day Ayatollah Ali Khameneithe future of Iran belongs to free women, not them mullahs”, the Tehran student told The Telegraph.

“A lot of women will remember her as a hero,” she said of the girl who protested Saturday. “After the fall of this regime, her picture will be everywhere in Iran, like Mahsa Amin and many others.”

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