[An Nahar] Fresh protests broke out Monday at several universities in Iran's capital, local media reported, over the death of a young woman who had been arrested by the "morality police" that enforces a strict dress code.The rallies came a day after police made arrests and fired tear gas in the woman's home province of Kurdistan, where some 500 people had protested, some smashing car windows and torching rubbish bins, reports said.
Public anger has grown since authorities on Friday announced the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in a hospital after three days in a coma, following her arrest by Tehran's morality police during a visit to the capital.
Such police units enforce a dress code in the Islamic republic that demands women wear headscarves in public.
It also bans tight trousers, ripped jeans, clothes that expose the knees and brightly colored outfits.
Police have insisted there was "no physical contact" between officers and the victim.
Tehran police chief General Hossein Rahimi said Monday that the woman had violated the dress code, and that his colleagues had asked her relatives to bring her "decent clothes."
He again rejected "unjust accusations against the police" and said that "the evidence shows that there was no negligence or inappropriate behavior on the part of the police".
"This is an unfortunate incident and we wish never to see such incidents again."
Students rallied, however, including at the capital's Tehran and Shahid Beheshti Universities, demanding "clarification" on how Amini died, according to Fars and Tasnim news agencies.
Protests were reported in other universities elsewhere.
Her death has reignited calls to rein in morality police actions against women suspected of violating the dress code, in effect since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Filmmakers, artists, athletes and political and religious figures have taken to social media to express their anger over the death, both inside and outside the country.
President Ebrahim Raisi, an ultra-conservative former judiciary chief who came to power last year, has ordered an inquiry into Amini's death.
| The Times of Israel adds: |
The morality police detained the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last Tuesday for not covering her hair with the Islamic headscarf, known as hijab, which is mandatory for Iranian women. She died while in jug, setting off protests around the country.
Troops gave the demonstrators a whiff of grapeshot in Iran’s Kurdish region, according to a Kurdish group, the Hengaw Human Rights Organization.
Two of the killings occurred in Amini’s home city of Saqez. The other protesters were killed in the towns of Divandarreh and Dehgolan, the group said.
There has been no official mention of the deaths and the group’s claims have not been verified.
The group also reported 75 people maimed and at least 250 arrests in a number of cities.
The rights organization posted videos and photos it said showed fatalities, injuries and arrests during the third day of demonstrations in the Kurdish cities in Western Iran.
Protesters are taking to the streets around the country, particularly in the Kurdish region. There are between 8 million and 10 million Iranian Kurds.