Featured Image Credit: Ashoswai/Twitter. iminiki/Reddit.
Topics: World News, News
Rachel Lang
The fury is palpable in Iran as tensions start to boil over following the death of Mahsa Amini.
The 22-year-old died after she allegedly suffered fatal injuries at the hands of the conservative nation's 'morality police'.
Amini spent three days in a coma before eventually succumbing to her injuries on September 16.
She was visiting Tehran last week when the Islamic Religious Police, who monitor women's clothing, arrested her and claimed she was not wearing her headscarf correctly, which is mandatory for women in Iran.
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According to the Middle East Eye, Tehran police claimed that she had 'suddenly suffered from a heart problem' and was 'immediately taken to hospital', where she died days later.
Her death has sparked outrage amongst women in Iran and many have held public demonstrations of burning their headscarves and hijabs.
In one large protest in Tehran, a crowd of people clothed in in black were filmed shouting: "Oh the day when we will be armed."
Another video from the capital showed police cars with their windows smashed while police fired water cannons into the crowd.
"People throwing rocks have advanced against the police. Death to the dictator!" a woman can be heard saying in the clip, as per a translation by the Middle East Eye.
According to the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights, Norway-based organisation that monitors human rights in predominantly Kurdish areas, there have been multiple deaths as rage boils over into action.
"At least three citizens were killed and 221 others were injured, and more than 250 Kurdish citizens were forcibly abducted by the security forces of the Islamic Republic," the human rights group said in a report.
According to Hengaw's report, furious Iranians went on strike in 24 Kurdish cities, while other gatherings were held in 13 cities, including Amini's hometown.
Hacking collective Anonymous has weighed in on the Kurdish civil unrest, revealing on Twitter that they have launched 'a cyber operation against the Iranian government'.
Although police claim that there had been no 'physical contact' between Amini and officers, human rights campaigners believe she was tortured while in police custody.
Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada al-Nashif told the BBC that there were reports that police beat Ms Amini's head with a baton and banged her head against one of their vehicles.
Prominent lawyer Saeid Dehghan echoed al-Nashif's sentiments, telling the Middle East Eye that Amini had multiple fractures to her skull.
Dehghan described the 22-year-old's death as 'murder' at the hands of police.