Fashion crackdown intensifies: arrests captured on film

Julien — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:06:00 +0100

Material compiled by our regional editor for Iran and Afghanistan, Jay Bakht

This video was captured on a mobile phone at the Abouzar roundabout in the eastern Iranian city of Birjand. It shows two girls being arrested by the police for not covering their hair properly. The police are supposed to act like a ‘moral authority’ that protects and enforces Islamic customs in Iranian society. But they are not always official. They can approach people acting ‘inappropriately’, for example an unmarried couple holding hands or a girl with heavy make-up. Many people try to resist; as the girls in the video.

The two girls are approached by two women wearing long black “chadoors”, as the all-enveloping traditional Islamic robes are called in Iran. One of the girls can be heard saying: “Who are you? I’m not coming with you. Wait a second!” One of the women then says, “I’m a policewoman.” The girl screams, “Let me go! People! Help! Help me! God …help me…” In the background a man says: “She hasn’t committed any crime, why don’t they let her go?!”

Post your questions to Farnaz Seifi, Iranian feminist and our observer in Iran, or to Jay Bakht, our regional editor for Iran and Afghanistan.