Complaint of Injured Teenage Girl from Guidance Patrol 'Has Led Nowhere'

The mother of one of the teenage girls who was severely beaten and arrested by officers in Tehran in connection with mandatory hijab in July this year reported in a recent interview that, two and a half months after the incident, officials have not even held a court session for this case. She also mentioned that her daughter has since been suffering from severe anxiety and stress, adding that her daughter 'does not go out of the house' and 'constantly asks me to leave Iran.' Video footage released on August 7, which was said to be from July, shows the forces of the so-called 'Noor' plan confronting two teenage girls in Vatanpour Street in northern Tehran, demonstrating that the officers violently arrested the two girls who were not wearing headscarves. Maryam Abbasi, the mother of one of the mentioned girls named Nafas Hajisharif, who is 14 years old, spoke on Tuesday, September 10, in an interview with the newspaper 'Etemad' about the indifference of the judicial system in following up on this case. She described the incident, saying: 'When I arrived, I saw my daughter's face was injured and bloody. Her neck was bruised, and there were scratch marks all over her body. Her clothes were torn, and she had tied her shirt to prevent it from falling off. It is astonishing that she was sitting there without a headscarf in front of all those men, in a state of weakness.' According to Ms. Abbasi, the officers initially placed Nafas Hajisharif 'in one van and then in a second vehicle' to prevent the videos from leading to their condemnation. The mother of Nafas Hajisharif further explained that 'I immediately filed complaints with all legal bodies... and now for two and a half months, my lawyer and I have been going back and forth. But we have not achieved any results.' Ms. Abbasi stated, 'After two and a half months, our court session has not been held, but one of the female officers who arrested Nafas later claimed her finger was dislocated, and immediately a court date was set for her.' She emphasized that regarding her daughter's case, 'the security police have not responded to judicial orders and even refuse to provide the video taken by the officer with a handycam, which is clearly visible in the footage.' The portion of the video footage released on August 7 showing the beating of these two teenage girls in Vatanpour Street in northern Tehran triggered widespread anger and sadness among many Persian-speaking social media users, many of whom addressed Masoud Pezeshkian and reminded him of his promises to end such confrontations. The President of Iran, during this year's presidential election campaign, repeatedly criticized the Guidance Patrol and the treatment of Iranian women and girls for not complying with mandatory hijab, challenging various government plans in this regard. He stated that one of these campaigns against women and girls, titled 'Noor Plan,' 'is leading our society towards darkness.' However, two and a half months after the beating of the two teenage girls by the officers implementing this plan in Tehran, there has been no news regarding Masoud Pezeshkian's attention to this case or assistance in expediting judicial proceedings. The late September 2021 arrest of Mahsa Amini by the Guidance Patrol and her death during detention sparked widespread protests across Iran, known as the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement. These protests were the most prominent campaign against mandatory hijab in Iran, and many families and traditional forces in Iran also supported it.