A teenager who was seriously injured under controversial circumstances in the Tehran subway is apparently brain dead. Armita Garawand’s condition is “not encouraging, and despite the efforts of doctors, she appears to be brain dead,” the Borna agency, affiliated with the Youth and Sports Ministry, reported on Sunday.
The case of the 16-year-old student has been making waves since the beginning of October. According to activists, the teenager from a Kurdish region was seriously injured when she was attacked in the subway by the moral police, who monitor compliance with the headscarf requirement for women in Iran. She fell into a coma and has been being treated in a hospital in Tehran ever since.
Iranian authorities deny that the teenager was attacked. According to the state news agency Irna, she fainted due to “low blood pressure.” Armita’s case is reminiscent of the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022 after her arrest by the moral police for allegedly wearing a headscarf improperly. Her death sparked weeks of protests against the Iranian leadership. Hundreds of people, including security forces, were killed and thousands were arrested.
