Protests rock Iran over death of Kurdish woman after arrest by morality police
Protests have broken out in Iran after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in hospital on 16 September, after she was arrested and reportedly beaten by morality police in Tehran.
Demonstrators gathered outside Kasra hospital in Tehran, where Ms Amini was being treated. Kasra Hospital in Northern Tehran said in a statement that Ms Amini was admitted on 13 September, showing "no vital signs".
The statement was later removed from the hospital's social media after hardline social media accounts accused hospital staff of being "anti-regime agents".
Ms Amini’s body was then transported to her native province of Kurdistan for burial, which took place on September 17.
"The security institutions forced the Amini family to hold the funeral without any ceremony to prevent tensions,” said Soma Rostami from Hengaw, a Kurdish human rights organisation, to the Guardian.
Ms Amini was visiting Tehran with her family on 13 September when morality police arrested her for allegedly violating the country’s strict hijab law. The police told her family that she would be released from the police station after a “re-education session”.
Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi has asked the ministry of the interior to launch an investigation into the death.