Armita Geravand brain dead after beating in Tehran, Iran

16-year-old Armita Geravand has been treated in a hospital in Iran since the beginning of October.
Human rights groups claim she was attacked by the country’s morality police in a subway.
Now she has been diagnosed as brain dead, according to the state news agency IRNA.

In early October, a 16-year-old girl in Iran fell into a coma after being beaten in the subway in Tehran. The girl, whose name is Armita Geravand, is said to have been attacked by the country’s morality police, according to the human rights organization Hengaw.

On Sunday, the Iranian state news agency IRNA stated that the girl has now been diagnosed as brain dead.

The parents are subject to prohibition

Iranian authorities have denied involvement, claiming the girl suffered a drop in blood pressure, fell and hit her head.

Armita Geravand’s parents have, in a video published by IRNA, told the same story, but human rights groups have claimed that they spoke under duress, according to Sky News.

The parents are also said to have been banned from publishing pictures of her on social media or talking to human rights groups.

Surveillance images from the subway have also not been made public, despite attempts by human rights organizations.

Fear of protests

The Guardian reports that there are fears in Iran that the case risks sparking new protests similar to those linked to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini last year. She was arrested and beaten by moral police for allegedly wearing her veil the wrong way.

Two female Iranian journalists who reported on the death of Mahsa Jina Amini were sentenced to long prison terms.

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