Security Forces Attack People Protesting Death Of Hijab Victim

Iran’s security forces in the western city of Saqqez have used pellet guns and tear gas against protesters following the burial of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in the hands of hijab police. 

According to videos obtained by Iran International on Saturday, several protesters were injured when security forces fired at rally outside the building of the governor's office. 

People were chanting slogans against the authorities and sought justice for the perpetrators of the crime at the protest rally as well as during her funeral service at a graveyard in her hometown.

The 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was arrested on Tuesday by the morality police, was taken to hospital two hours later after losing consciousness. She passed away Friday afternoon at Kasra Hospital in northern Tehran. Originally from Saqqez in Kurdistan province, Amini was arrested in her brother’s car on a visit to the capital to see their relatives.

Condemning her death, Amnesty International called on Friday for an investigation of the circumstances leading to her suspicious death. 

On Friday night, protests were held in several locations in Tehran -- including outside Tehran's Kasra hospital where she died -- in which people chanted slogans such as “Death to Khamenei,” “Death to Oppressors,” and "We Will Kill Those Who Killed Our Sister".

In recent months government and security agencies have intensified their efforts to pressure women into abiding by the hijab laws and several rounds of anti-hijab civil disobedience campaigns have followed.

Patrols by ‘morality police’ have increased on the streets and videos of violent arrests of women and girls as well as confrontations between people and hijab enforcers.