In this image from surveillance video aired by Iranian state television, women pull 16-year-old Armita Geravand from a train car on the Tehran Metro in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
An Iranian teenage girl injured weeks ago in a mysterious incident on Tehran’s Metro while not wearing a head scarf has died, Iranian state media reported Saturday.
The death of Armita Geravand comes after her being in a coma for weeks in Tehran and after the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini and the nationwide protests it sparked.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported her death.
What happened in the few seconds after Armita Geravand entered the train on October 1 remains in question.
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While a friend told Iranian state television that she hit her head on the station’s platform, the soundless footage aired by the broadcaster from outside of the car is blocked by a bystander. Just seconds later, her limp body is carried off.
Geravand’s mother and father appeared in state media footage saying a blood pressure issue, a fall or perhaps both contributed to their daughter’s injury.
Activists abroad have alleged Geravand may have been pushed or attacked because she was not wearing the hijab. They demanded an independent investigation by the United Nations’ fact-finding mission on Iran, citing the theocracy’s use of pressure on victims’ families and state TV’s history of airing hundreds of coerced confessions.
