Harsh Police Confrontation with Teenagers Playing in Water at Tehran Pars Park

A harsh police confrontation with girls and boys playing in water at a park in Tehran Pars has made headlines.

Images released on Monday, June 24 on social media show police officers attempting to forcibly put a girl into a police vehicle, and when she resists, they use violence to force her inside the car.

One of the girls present at the scene told Masih Alinejad, a journalist, that the girl was beaten and taken to a detention center.

Ms. Alinejad wrote on her Twitter page, citing one of the witnesses: “A small group of girls and boys were playing in water in a corner without bothering anyone else.”

According to her, officers were pulling one of the girls’ hair from behind and taking her away.

The confrontation with the teenagers playing in the park also provoked reactions from users, and some, while criticizing the police’s harsh treatment, compared it to other instances of violence against women, including acid attacks in Isfahan whose perpetrators have not been identified.

Police announced in a statement that the girls and boys had consumed hallucinogenic substances and were making crude jokes with each other.

This comes as in recent years there have been multiple cases of police violence during encounters with women that have made headlines; including instances of confrontations by the Guidance Patrol and other police units in cases involving claims of improper hijab or lack of hijab.

Source: Voice of America