Italian
The world on edge for the Iranian girl who, by stripping off, rebelled against the “moral duty” of Islamic law
TEHRAN. A symbol of “rebellion, anger, and resistance.” Another gesture by Iranian women punished with likely ongoing repressive violence.
The video
The long black hair, the hands folded, sitting as if waiting for an appointment. Composed and absorbed in her thoughts despite her body being covered only by underwear. Then a walk among other young people, heading towards a destiny she knew well would not be painless.
The video showing the young student, identified as Ahoo Daryaei, in the courtyard of the Department of Science and Research of Azad University in Tehran, and her subsequent arrest, has gone viral around the world, raising protests from both the population and international organizations such as Amnesty International, which are calling for her immediate release. Fragmentary and hard-to-verify reports speak of possible “beatings and sexual violence against her during the arrest” and urge “independent and impartial investigations.” Iran International agency reports that, according to a student newsletter on Telegram, the girl has been transferred to a psychiatric hospital on the order of the intelligence of the Revolutionary Guards.
What will happen to her?
In the world people wonder: where has she been taken? What will happen to her? How will they decide to punish her for this insubordination?
We have no more news of her. After that gesture of hers, most likely triggered by being stopped by university security guards because she was not wearing the Islamic veil appropriately, her walk among the young people filling the University avenues, her being taken away to an unknown place, silence fell upon her.
His body, a cry of freedom
Her face, her body exposed to the world, covered only by underwear, is a cry, a yearning for freedom that encompasses that of all the other girls who in Iran undergo the strict controls of those who feel obliged to enforce the law.
The encounter with some of these girls, during my trip to Iran, was a breath of light in a country where, in every corner, even in the mountain streets, you are followed by the giant posters of the ayatollahs and the martyrs of the revolution.
Girls, young beautiful women, with a regal stride despite being caged in their clothes that limit their femininity. The whim of a tuft of hair peeking out from the veil is a symbol of an untamed personality, longing to be free to express itself but unable to.
The Guardians of the Revolution are on every corner, ready to suppress and flog every whim, to punish those who do not bow their heads and lower their gaze.
The Pride of Women
But I have seen many proud gazes, while reading poems in front of the tomb of their greatest poet, while explaining to visitors the beauty of a wonderful place, while showing all their pride of being Iranian, daughters and descendants of the Persian empire of Cyrus the Great.
And now, prisoners since 1979 of the Islamic Republic, they live under the obscurantism of a regime that sees the unconditional respect for the moral duty of Islamic law as the only rule for women.
Among the many appeals raised from many parts of the world for her safety, we remember that of the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 winner Narges Mohammadi, incarcerated by the Iranian regime for 14 years. She has released a statement from prison, describing the body of the girl as a symbol of “rebellion, anger, and resistance” and calling for an end to the ongoing repressive violence against Iranian women.
