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A 16-year-old girl tragically took her own life in Iran after being threatened with expulsion by her school after being recorded dancing without a hijab.
An image of Arezoo Khavari’s final moments, which shows her balancing on the edge of a building, has been circulating on X, with several social media users condemning Iran’s strict dress code.
The death of Arezoo, an Afghan national living in the Iranian city of Shahrari, was confirmed by Tehran’s General Ministry of Education in a statement, which said the girl was “injured by a fall from the height of a residential building.” ‘.
“After being immediately transferred to hospital and despite the best efforts of the medical team, she died,” the statement said.
Although the department said the “motivation and reasons for this action” had not yet been determined, respected Persian human rights activist Masih Alinjad said in a post on the dress code by wearing jeans instead of the prescribed uniform’.
16-year-old Arezoo Khavari’ tragically took her own life in Iran after being sent home from a school trip for not wearing a hijab
The teenager was also repeatedly harassed by the school for not adhering to the dress code policy, Masih alleged, also claiming that Arezoo was threatened with expulsion after she was filmed dancing without a hijab.
After Arezoo’s death, her father filed a formal complaint against the school, accusing them of negligence and insensitivity, activist Masih said.
Commenting further on the teenager’s death, Masih said: “The Taliban are depriving girls of education, and the Iranian clerics are crushing the spirit of a girl because she lets her hair blow in the wind, because she dances, because she wears her own clothes.” chooses.
“Arezoo’s voice – like so many others – will be buried beneath the louder headlines of the world. Shame on the Western leaders who shake hands with the Islamic Republic and the Taliban, thinking they can reform this atrocity.
“We, the women of Iran and Afghanistan, want these gender apartheid regimes to end. Support us, not our murderers!’.
The teen’s tragic death and the circumstances surrounding it come just days after an Iranian woman was arrested for stripping down to her underwear in protest against hijab laws.
The young unidentified woman was seen on footage Saturday walking around the campus of the science and research department of Tehran’s Islamic Azad University before guards arrested her.
An unidentified female student was arrested in Iran on Saturday after she walked around the campus of the science and research department of Tehran’s Islamic Azad University in her underwear.
The student reportedly suffered serious injuries after the assault during her arrest
People supporting the Iranian community take part in the Freedom Rally for Iran demonstration against the Iranian regime on February 22, 2023 in Rome, Italy
Mahsa Amini, 22, died on September 16, three days after falling into a coma following her arrest
The widely circulated video on social media shows the woman pacing around the campus in her underwear, waving her arms.
A growing number of women have defied authorities by shedding their veils following nationwide protests that followed the September 2022 death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman taken into custody by vice police for allegedly violating hijab rules.
Mahsa Amini, 22, died after being picked up by vice squad for not wearing her hijab correctly.
Her death sparked mass protests known as ‘Women’. life, liberty’ that lasted for months in the country.
A year later, in October 2023, an Iranian teenager named Armita Geravand was injured in a suspicious incident on the Tehran metro while not wearing a head covering.
She later died in hospital after falling into a coma.