Arezoo Badri, 31, has been in hospital for more than three weeks after being shot in the back
A mother-of-two has been left paralysed after being shot by police In Iran for refusing to wear the mandatory hijab, it has been reported.
Arezoo Badri is the latest victim of the Islamic Republic’s ‘ruthless’ morality police, which enforces regulations on modest dress.
The 31-year-old was driving home with a friend in the northern city of Noor when officers tried to pull her over.
According to Iran Human Rights Monitor, police instructed the women to stop via loudspeaker. Frightened, they continued on their path.
The mother-of-two suffered ‘serious injuries’ in the attack
Without a warning, an officer shot at the car’s wheel and then at its door. But the bullet hit Badri’s back. The incident happened at about 10pm on July 22.
The victim was rushed to hospital and has been in the intensive care unit (ICU) in the Vali-e-Asr Hospital in the capital Tehran, while under strict security measures.
An informed source cited by Iran HRM, doctors succeeded to remove the bullet from her back.
But her lungs and spinal cord are understood to have suffered ‘serious injuries,’ causing her the ability to walk.
It remains unclear whether Badri was wearing a headscarf when she was stopped by police
‘Badri has no sensation from the waist down, and doctors have said that in the coming months it will be determined whether she is completely paralyzed from the waist down or not,’ they said.
The woman remains in hospital and security forces only allow a few minutes for family visits. No one is allowed to take photos or videos of her.
It remains unclear whether Badri was wearing a headscarf when she was stopped by police, but her car had a confiscation notice against it.
The measures around her are reminiscent of those during the hospitalisation of Armita Gravand in October 2023.
The 17-year-old fell into a coma after an alleged encounter with a police officer on Tehran’s Shahid metro station over violating Iran’s draconian hijab laws.
She was shown on a hospital bed unconscious with a respiratory tube and bandage over her head, visibly on life support.
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