Ahoo Daryaei: Iranian Woman Who Protested Against the Regime; Her Whereabouts Unknown (image-X/HabibKhanT)
Tehran, Iran: A video went viral two days ago where an Iranian woman striped down to her underwear to protest after she reportedly had a confrontation with Basij paramilitary force members who ripped her clothes inside Tehran’s prestigious Islamic Azad University. According to social media, her name is Ahoo Daryaei.
Social media was flooded with videos of the woman removing her clothes and walking on the street in her underwear. Soon another video surfaced where she appears to be being bundled into a car by men in plainclothes.
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Amir Kabhi, a student media outlet, reported that the woman was harassed by a Basij member for not wearing a headscarf. Iran has a strict mandatory dress code for women, under which they must wear a headscarf and loose-fitting clothes in public.
The student newsletter stated that she was beaten during the arrest, and since Saturday, her condition and whereabouts remain unknown.
Following the same, Amnesty International called on Iran officials to “immediately and unconditionally” release the student. “Authorities must protect her from torture and other ill-treatment and ensure access to family and a lawyer. Allegations of beatings and sexual violence against her during arrest need independent and impartial investigations,” the organisation stated.
Meanwhile, Azad University’s public relations director Amir Mahjob claimed in an X post that the woman, separated from her husband and a mother of two, suffered from a “mental disorder.” Several people criticised the post.
An X user observed, “Throughout history, a woman standing in defiance of a patriarchal society has been labelled to be having “hysteria”, “depression”, and now the polite term – “Mental health crisis”.
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Since the videos surfaced on social media, Daryaei has become somewhat of a hero, with many across the world hailing her for standing against an oppressive patriarchal regime.
The incident comes over two years later after widespread protest shook the nation after the death in custody of Iranian-Kurdish Mahsa Amini who had been arrested or an alleged breach of the dress code. Several Iranian women defied authorities by removing and burning their headscarves, showing their hair in public or social media and wearing tight clothes. However, the authorities violently curbed the protests, leaving more than 500 dead.
