On September 13, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini travelled from the Kurdish town of Saqqez to the Iranian capital, Tehran, with her teenage brother Kiaresh to visit relatives. She had much to look forward to: her university course was to start soon, and she had plans to celebrate her 23rd birthday later that month.
But a strand of her raven hair emerging from her head scarf would cost Mahsa her life. As she walked out of the subway, she was pounced on by police officers, and accused of not wearing her hijab correctly. She was bundled into a van, beaten, and taken to Vozara detention centre. Kiaresh, 17, was also assaulted as he objected to her arrest.
Soon after arriving at the detention centre Mahsa collapsed, according to Amnesty International. As other women screamed for someone to call a doctor, police accused the motionless woman of faking her condition. It was two hours before Mahsa was taken to Kasra Hospital. By then, she was in a coma. Three days later, she was dead.
Mahsa died at the hands of Iran’s so-called “morality police”, and her
