Police reaction to video of a woman being run over by an "Irshad Patrol"
Following the controversy surrounding a video of a woman being run over by an Iranian police car, a spokesperson for the Islamic Republic's police force promised to investigate the matter. A video has recently been posted on social media in which a woman stands in front of a police patrol car to prevent her identification documents from being confiscated, but the police car does not stop and runs her over.
Perhaps the abduction of women and children by #Govt_Irshad is not the government's work, but the silence of #Rouhani as the defender of the nation's civil rights is tantamount to the government's complicity in this crime. pic.twitter.com/HAwIdeWHr7
— Ahmad Batebi (@radiojibi) May 6, 2017
Saeed Montazeral-Mahdi, a spokesman for the Iranian police force, told reporters on Monday, May 8: "The film is being reviewed until the time of its occurrence is determined and we know when it is from. But what is clear so far is that the film has been cut."
He also stressed that the police do not condone such actions and will “firmly deal with the perpetrators of these actions through the law.” However, this is not the first time that images of police brutality against women over the hijab have been released.
In March 1978, just a few days after the revolutionaries' victory, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a decree requiring the compulsory hijab, which women protested with several gatherings and marches, but it was ultimately enacted into law.
Mandatory hijab in Iran is a violation of civil rights, and many women have faced numerous confrontations and deprivations over the past years due to what is called improper hijab or lack of hijab.
The presence of special police forces in Iran to combat improper hijab, known as the “Guidelines Patrol,” is one of the Islamic Republic’s latest moves to impose mandatory hijab. But the patrols’ harsh and illegal actions have drawn criticism even from senior Iranian officials.
In a speech in July 2015, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated that "adherence to chastity and hijab is not possible through force and coercion."
This stance received a lot of attention, given Hassan Rouhani's history as one of the enforcers of compulsory hijab in the early years of the Islamic Republic, and a few months later, Hossein Ashtari, the commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran's police force, protested: "Anyone who wants to run for president says that he will take over the guidance patrol; but is this possible?"
Recently, Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president and candidate for the 12th presidential election, has also taken a stand against the Ershad patrol, stating that in one of the provinces, the police, while encountering a wedding party, had removed the groom from his car and beaten him. According to Mr. Jahangiri, this young man will not be optimistic about Islam for the rest of his life.
Source: Voice of America
