Woman, 22, dies after falling into coma while in custody of Iran's morality police

By Adam Pourahmadi and Jonny Hallam, CNNUpdated: Fri, 16 Sep 2022 17:57:01 GMTSource: CNNA 22-year-old Iranian woman has died after being arrested by Iran's morality police earlier this week, Ira

By Adam Pourahmadi and Jonny Hallam, CNN

Updated: Fri, 16 Sep 2022 17:57:01 GMT

Source: CNN

A 22-year-old Iranian woman has died after being arrested by Iran's morality police earlier this week, Iran's semi-official Etemad Online website reported, quoting her uncle.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death, Iranian state news agency ISNA reported on Friday.

On Tuesday evening, Mahsa Amini and her family, who had traveled from Iran's Kurdistan region to visit relatives in the capital, Tehran, were stopped by a patrol of morality police -- a dedicated unit that enforces strict dress codes for women, such as wearing the compulsory headscarf.

According to IranWire, human rights activists who have spoken to the family say the police grabbed Amini and forced her inside a police vehicle.

Her brother, Kiarash, attempted to intervene and was told his sister was being taken to the police station for one hour of "re-education," IranWire reported.

Kiarash said he never saw his sister awake again.

While he was waiting outside the police station for her to be released, an ambulance pulled up and discreetly took his sister to the hospital.

In an interview with IranWire, Kiarash said he was told she had suffered a heart attack or a stroke while in the police station and that she was in a coma.

Iranian State TV confirmed Amini's death in rolling news text without giving details, according to Reuters.

On Thursday, Tehran police said that Amini had suffered a "heart attack" following her arrest on Tuesday.

"The woman was sent to a Greater Tehran police precinct for guidance and education when suddenly, in the presence of other people, she had a heart attack," the police said.

Amini's family have questioned the version of events given by police, saying she was a normal, healthy 22-year-old with no pre-existing heart conditions.

"There were only two hours between her arrest and being taken to hospital," Kiarash told IranWire.

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