The Story of the 'Girl from Science and Research'; Speculations About Her Name to Transfer to a Psychiatric Hospital

The story of the 'Girl from Science and Research,' which became the headline of major media outlets and social media discussions on Saturday, November 12, has taken on new dimensions. Amir Kabir News reported, based on received reports, that the name of this woman is 30-year-old Ahoo Daryayi, and she is a seventh-semester French language student at Azad University, Science and Research branch. It was announced that she was sent to Iran Psychiatric Hospital on the Special Road after being detained by the IRGC Intelligence Organization. On the other hand, the spokesperson for Azad University claimed about this incident: 'Around noon on Saturday, one female student was filming with her phone and was confronted by other students, which was reported to the security. The security insisted that this individual delete the video from her phone, but the female student reacted aggressively towards the female security forces and then unveiled herself and removed her clothes.' A user on social media, however, rejected the claims of officials and state media regarding this incident, writing: 'Today around noon, in front of the entrance of Block 1 of the faculty, we saw the security and Basij of the university trying to forcibly take a female student to the security booth under the pretext of not wearing a hijab and scarf, but with this girl's resistance, her clothing (like a hoodie) was torn off, and under the hoodie, she was wearing nothing but underwear, which shocked the security agents, and they released her. Then this girl, out of anger, also took off her pants and threw them at the agents.' According to this user, ultimately three agents violently took this protesting woman away in a silver Pride car with a Tehran license plate. Following the publication of this incident in the media and the confrontation of the agents with this woman, Amnesty International called on the Iranian authorities on social media to 'immediately and unconditionally' release this student and to protect her from torture and other ill-treatment until her release, ensuring her access to family and a lawyer. May Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, also stated that he is closely monitoring this incident and the reaction of the Iranian authorities regarding the detained student at the Science and Research University. While state media and Iranian officials are attempting to attribute the student’s protest of undressing to her 'mental disorder,' several citizens and political and human rights activists have described this student’s action as a 'rebellion' and 'defiance' against the government. Previously, Kianoush Sanjari, a journalist who also has a history of detention in a psychiatric hospital, told Voice of America that transferring political prisoners to psychiatric centers is 'a repetition of the practices of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.' Roya Zakeri, the protesting girl from Tabriz, stated: 'I am in complete health; the government is trying to portray me as a mentally ill person.' Gohar Eshghi expressed concern over the uncertainty regarding the status of Roya Zakeri, who has become known as the 'Girl from Tabriz.' The violent arrest of the protesting student who undressed, slogans against Khamenei, and the beating of the 'Girl from Tabriz' led to her transfer from prison to a psychiatric hospital. The 'Girl from Tabriz' rejected the Iranian government's claims about her, saying: 'I am in complete physical and mental health.' Roya Zakeri was transferred from the psychiatric hospital to the intelligence detention center; a lawyer stated: 'Her life is in danger.'