IRAN: On the third day of unrest following an incident that has sparked widespread rage, security personnel opened fire on protesters in Iran’s Kurdish area on Monday, according to a Kurdish rights group. The rallies were in response to the death of a woman while in police custody.
Following her detention in Tehran last week by the morality police, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iran’s Kurdistan province, went into a coma and passed away, setting off protests around the country, including the capital.
The Hengaw Human Rights Organization posted on Twitter that two of the individuals were murdered as security forces opened fire on protesters in Saqez, a city in the Kurdish region that is home to Amini.
According to the report, a fifth person was murdered in Dehgolan, another town in the Kurdish region. Two more people were killed by direct fire from security personnel in the town of Divandarreh.
The fatalities were not formally acknowledged. According to the state-run news agency IRNA, police dispersed “limited” protesters in a number of cities across seven provinces.
Although some demonstrators had been detained, they refuted “some accusations of deaths on social media” by displaying two injured youngsters who denied the claims.
According to the authorities, Amini became ill as she was waiting with other women being detained by the morality police, who in the Islamic Republic enforce harsh laws mandating that women cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothing in public.
Although she had bruises on her legs, her father insisted that his daughter had no health issues on numerous occasions. He blamed the police for her passing.
The protests have been most intense in the Kurdish region, where 75 people were hurt on Monday. The authorities have previously put down unrest by the 8–10 million strong Kurdish minority.
Also Read: Iranian Lady Killed After Being Detained by “Morality Police“
