On October 1st, a16-year-old schoolgirl was transferred outside the car while unconscious, moments after entering the subway with her friends. A video released by the Tehran Subway company shows that shortly after Armita Geravand entered the subway car, was transferred outside by several individuals while unconscious. However, news circulating on social media suggests that security agents pushed her because she was not wearing a hijab, resulting in her head hitting a metal bar and becoming unconscious. After the incident, she was transferred to Fajr Hospital, and no one is allowed to approach her.
On October 2, the CEO of the Tehran subway, simultaneously with the release of a video, said, “Around 7 a.m. on Monday, a 16-year-old schoolgirl entered the train on Line 4 at Shahid Square and became unconscious due to a drop in pressure. This person was transferred outside the train by her friends and another passenger, who was probably a doctor.”
He added, “Immediately, the subway’s operational agents initiated initial medical treatments on her and requested assistance from the emergency services. The emergency team arrived at the scene immediately and, after initial interventions and stabilizing her condition, transferred her to the hospital.”
He claimed that this student had no verbal or physical altercation with passengers or Subway staff.
However, the release of this video raised further ambiguities, as some users on social networks questioned why the video of the moment of entry and before that was not released. Some also questioned the authenticity of the video because no timestamp was visible. The ambiguities increased when the news of the arrest of Maryam Lotfi, a journalist from the state-run Shargh newspaper, was published. According to the newspaper’s officials, she had gone to Fajr Hospital to prepare a report on the incident but was detained by security forces. Although she was released on Tuesday night, the report she was working on was not published.
ماجرای دختر نوجوانی که در متروی تهران بیهوش شد
مدیر عامل شرکت مترو تهران در گفتوگو با ایرنا:
مقارن ساعت ۷ صبح روز یکشنبه نهم مهر ماه یک دختر دانش اموز ۱۶ساله در خط ۴مترو میدان شهدا وارد قطار شده که به دلیل افت فشار بیهوش شد pic.twitter.com/twMbCjTKK8— خبرگزاری ایرنا (@IRNA_1313) October 2, 2023
Some journalists on Twitter said that she was detained while she was talking to the mother of this student. This incident led to the parents of this student being put in front of the cameras of government media on Wednesday.
The mother and father of this girl, whose name had not been released until Wednesday morning, appeared in front of the camera of the official news agency, IRNA, and said, “I don’t think what people are saying is true.”
The Iranian regime has a long history of obtaining forced confessions and broadcasting them on national television. The parents were visibly shaken in the video.
The mother, however, expressed doubt and said, “I think in that place [subway], my daughter had a drop in her blood pressure. I think they said her blood pressure dropped. Then her head hit the edge of the subway.”
The parents of the girl stated that they reviewed the subway videos and do not believe what people are saying to be true.
The mother mentioned that she saw images of how her daughter fell.
The Tehran Subway has not released any videos showing the moment of the incident or before.
With the identification of the girl, the Tehran Subway released another video from a different angle of the incident that day. However, this video does not show the inside of the subway car. It was taken from cameras on the opposite platform and shows several student girls waiting for the train on the subway seats. The trains on both sides arrive simultaneously, the footage cuts, and then shows the images of the students being taken out and Armita being pulled out the day before. The camera on the side where the students boarded the train has not shown the time of their boarding so far.
تصاویر جدید از دانش آموز دختری که روز یکشنبه در ایستگاه متروی تهران دچار افت فشار شد و بیهوش شد. https://t.co/SLVm7xXnmC pic.twitter.com/wvhTpGYI5v
— خبرگزاری ایرنا (@IRNA_1313) October 3, 2023
Some describe the girl’s consciousness as low, and it is said that the surroundings of the hospital are completely secure.
Security and state-run medias have also extended their reactions. The Tehran Municipality newspaper, Hamshahri, wrote: “If you have boarded the subway and are a daily passenger of this vehicle, you will witness that law enforcement officers in the subway only verbally express a sentence of hijab observance without any verbal or physical confrontation with norm-breakers.”
In response to this issue, Annalena Baerbock, the German Foreign Minister, said: “A young woman in Iran is fighting for her life once again. Only because her hair was visible on the subway. This is intolerable. The parents of Armita Garawand should not be in front of the camera, but they have the right to be by their daughter’s bedside.”
Schon wieder kämpft eine junge Frau in #Iran um ihr Leben. Allein, weil sie in der U-Bahn ihre Haare gezeigt hat. Es ist unerträglich. Die Eltern von #ArmitaGarawand gehören nicht vor Kameras gezogen, sondern haben das Recht, am Krankenbett ihrer Tochter zu sein.
— Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock (@ABaerbock) October 4, 2023
Last year, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was also in a similar situation after an encounter with the security forces known as “Gasht-e Ershad” or “Morality Police” over the hijab. She died as a result of the assault by the security forces. Her death sparked widespread street protests in Iran and abroad, leading to international condemnation of the Iranian regime. In last year’s protests, more than 750 people were killed, and the Iranian regime executed seven individuals for participating in the demonstrations. Tens of thousands of people were also imprisoned on the same charge.
