A woman was dragged by her ankles in front of a cheering crowd for dancing in public and not wearing a hijab in Iran, according to a video that went viral on social media.
The video posted by Iranian journalist, Masih Alinejad, showed a woman wearing a yellow coat who appeared to be involved in a stand-off with the crowd in a busy road in Rasht, Iran
Posted on June 18, Alinejad later claimed that she was the woman in the video and called the footage proof of the way Iranian women are harassed for not conforming to the compulsory rule of wearing hijab in the country.
Iranian woman savagely dragged across the street by police for hijab & dancing in the city of Rasht.
— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih) June 18, 2019
She got arrested brutally.#MyCameraIsMyWeapon shows how women of Iran being harassed for hijab every day. Women are ban from being unveiled & dancing in public. pic.twitter.com/JG9cAYSF28
The video shows a man throwing the woman to the ground before taking hold of her ankles and dragging her along the roadside as a crowd of men cheer in the background.
The woman is released for a while and she regains her balance before she confronts one of her attackers. After she exchanged heated words, her attacker appeared to hit her across her face.
As she regains her balance again, she continues to shout at the crowd of men who jeer and laugh at her.
Towards the end of the clip, she appears shaken as she steps backwards to upcoming cars behind her on the busy road.
The Islamic authorities have imposed mandatory dress code since the 1979 revolution. For females, it is obligatory for those above 13 years to cover themselves from the head, all the way to the toe while discouraging any sort of dresses that are figure-hugging. A rule includes a fine of 500,000 rials and up to two months in prison to those who don't abide by the code.
Alinejad is also an activist and founder of #WhiteWednesdays and #MyStealthyFreedom that aims to oppose the strict imposition of the hijab on women in her home country Iran. The social media movement has also inspired participation from Saudi Arabia, Europe, the US and Afghanistan.
