A female college student was arrested in Iran on Sunday for stripping down and strutting around campus in her underwear in apparent protest over allegedly being assaulted for not wearing a hijab.
A now-viral video shows the young woman in a bra and panties in the courtyard of Tehran’s Azad University, while other footage shows her soon being shoved by men into a car and being driven away.
The unidentified student was protesting security forces who had ripped her clothing earlier while confronting her for not wearing a headscarf, which Iranian law demands for all women in public, Iran International reported.
After the woman stripped in protest, she was filmed from above sitting on a wall — with one man approaching her and making a phone call before casually walking away as bemused students looked on.
A university rep said, “Campus security intervened and handed the individual over to law enforcement authorities,” blaming the incident on “an indecent act by a student.”
An online student group claimed the woman also was assaulted during her arrest by plainclothes security forces, leaving her bleeding heavily after her head was struck, possibly against a pillar or the door of the car.
“Blood stains from the student were reportedly seen on the car’s tires,” the online groups said, according to Iran International.
She was taken to a police station and then admitted to a mental-health facility, the report said — with the university official she had suffered “severe psychological distress” before the incident.
The underwear-clad protester has already become an icon for those decrying the Islamic Republic’s brutal treatment of those defying its rules.
A key UN official shared concerns about the student’s arrest.
“I will be monitoring this incident closely, including the authorities’ response,” Mai Sato, the UN special monitor on human rights, wrote on X alongside video of the incident.
Iranian law demands all women, Muslim or not, wear headscarves in public, and the government has ramped up enforcement of such laws since 2022, when Mahsa Amini died in custody after being arrested for hijab violations, sparking protests in which security forces killed more than 550 people and arrested thousands more.
