"Fiery Protest" in Urmia

The newspaper Etemad reported on a "fiery protest" following the publication of a "news report about the assault on a schoolgirl" in "Islamabad, Urmia." On Tuesday, it was reported that "the janitor of the Shahid School in the Islamabad neighborhood of Urmia embraced and harassed a 12-year-old girl from the school. Angry citizens went to this girls' school and gathered. They shouted slogans, broke the school's windows, and set cars on fire." A local journalist explained what happened in Urmia to the newspaper: "This incident happened three days ago. Until today, they did not allow anyone to find out, but I don't know how it became news today. The news states that the janitor only hugged the girl, but the people and parents of the students attending this school say that this girl was assaulted. However, it doesn't matter; forcibly hugging a girl is also considered an invasion of her personal space. The family of this girl denies such an incident and was not present at this gathering. However, a social crime has occurred, and even if her family denies it, the people and society cannot easily overlook this incident." According to this journalist residing in Urmia, during the gathering in front of the school, "the situation became very horrific," leading to "clashes," and the protesters "set several cars on fire. Some people and police officers were injured," and "a few were also arrested. All the windows of the school were broken, and the school was completely evacuated. The people are angry. The parents of the students attending this school are angry and are asking how they are supposed to send their children to this school from now on." Etemad reported that simultaneously with the protests in front of the Shahid School in Urmia, "Alireza Radfar, the political-security deputy of the West Azerbaijan governor, claimed that contrary to the unreal news published on some social media, the issue of sexual harassment of one of the schoolgirls is not true, and our preliminary evidence indicates that the janitor behaved inappropriately, but it is not sexual harassment." The newspaper noted that Mohammad Bat'haei, the Minister of Education, "sent his special inspector, Bozorgizadeh, to Urmia to investigate this matter and the surrounding events," and reported that Fereydoun Mostafavi, the director-general of education in West Azerbaijan, promised the people that they would address the issue and stated: "According to the child's statements, the janitor hugged her and harassed her. However, the exact details of the matter are still unclear to us; also, the father of this child has given consent at the police station. Following the publication of this news, the angry people gathered in front of the school." Mustafa Habibi, the prosecutor of Urmia, also stated: "According to a personal complaint regarding harassment (of) his daughter by the janitor of the school, the police have taken up the matter. The police and judiciary will deal with this individual, and a judicial order has been issued, and this person has been arrested." Etemad wrote that "around six-thirty in the evening on Tuesday, after officials emphasized the comprehensive follow-up of this incident, the gathering of the people ended," and simultaneously, the police chief of West Azerbaijan stated: "Some opportunists, by spreading rumors, caused chaos and destruction of personal and public property, and in this regard, several of the instigators were arrested and handed over to judicial authorities." The newspaper Hamdeli also dedicated its front page to a scene from the angry protests in Urmia, writing: "During the gathering on Tuesday in front of the Shahid School in Urmia, people were shouting 'shameless, shameless,' and again this repetitive suffix of recent news incidents in Iran; 'devilish' comes and sits behind the names of those who assault people, especially children," and "this time the janitor of the school is shameless; they say he sexually assaulted a sixth-grade girl four days ago." The newspaper noted that the protests continued into the evening in Urmia, writing: "It has become dark; the people have not only not gotten tired and gone home; they have sent images and videos of burning the school through Telegram channels and websites. Now the night in Urmia is lit by a fire that says its people are not indifferent to their daughters being assaulted like this; expressing this sentence does not mean encouraging people to react voluntarily to violations, crimes, etc.; here, it indicates the importance of the issue for them." Hamdeli emphasized that "the bright night of Urmia shows a few other positive points to the viewer of the images; the schoolgirl who was assaulted went and informed her family; the second point is that the family informed and told the school, and then the people came and broke the school's windows, albeit illegally." It wrote: "Perhaps this is the result of the anger of all these past months of the people of this land, whose children have been assaulted from time to time, and it has gone too far, and a child has died; however, this child is alive, and here a unity has emerged between the parents of the assaulted girl, other parents, and the people of the city so that perhaps another child will not become a victim of sexual assault." The newspaper concluded by asking, "Is the issue only the 'devilishness' of the assailants? And is there no other factor involved in the increase in the number of assaults and violations in recent months in the country?"