大象传媒

Many women in Iran have been cutting off their hair and burning hijabs in protest against the death of a young woman in the custody of morality police.

Mahsa Amini, 22, had been detained for allegedly violating the dress code.

Tehran's police commander has insisted Ms Amini suffered a heart attack which sent her into a coma. But her death has sparked condemnation in Iran and abroad of the treatment of women, including from the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

At least two people were killed when protesters clashed with the security services in Ms Amini's home region and several marches were held at universities in Tehran and Iran's second city Mashhad.

Sanam Vakil - Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the international affairs think tank Chatham House, and author of Women and Politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran - told 大象传媒 Newsday the rules over clothing have not been enforced uniformly over time.

"Because women are more flagrantly challenging the headscarf law and in many cases being quite liberal in the way they are wearing the headscarf the government is pushing back. But the outcome here is that the government might be forced to be more accountable."

(Pic: Newspapers print the face of Mahsa Amini on their front pages in Iran; Credit: EPA)

Show less