A video has gone viral in Iran depicting a tense encounter between a young woman and a cleric who is filming the woman holding her baby while her hijab is loose in a clinic in the religious city of Qom.
The incident escalated into a brawl as the protesting people asked the cleric to delete his video in fear that it would lead to further problems for the mother.
The footage captured the young mother in the clinic in Qom with her sick infant. Shortly after entering, her headscarf slips off.
Upon noticing the cleric filming her, the woman requests him to delete the footage, but the cleric refuses and demands her to cover her head.
Despite the intervention of bystanders and the woman's objections, the cleric persists in filming and engages in a physical altercation with another woman.
The distressed woman is then moved to another room by the clinic's staff.
The video has triggered widespread outrage on social media, with users condemning the cleric's harassment and interference.
The Islamic Republic, in its bid to pass the Hijab and Chastity bill to enforce mandatory hijab has failed to address incidents of harassment and violence against women in public spaces. The hijab enforcers appear to enjoy tacit government support.
In a similar incident in December 2021, another woman in Qom was arrested after confronting a cleric who reprimanded her for her hijab.
The protests gained momentum following the death of Mahsa Amini in police detention in 2022, leading to the formation of the Women, Life, Freedom movement. Since then, the regime has intensified its crackdown on women's rights activists.
