A woman who fought back after a motorbike rider allegedly sexually harassed her in the street in Iran, has been arrested for not wearing a hijab, according to reports.
Footage posted on social media appears to show the motorcyclist trying to touch the woman from behind as he rides past.
The victim, who has been identified as Roshanak Molaei Alishah, 25, a Turkish woman can then be seen pushing her attacker to the ground as she berates him for his actions.
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a Norway-based Kurdish NGO, has since revealed that Roshanak has been detained by Irans security forces.
Footage posted on social media appears to show the motorcyclist touching the woman from behind as he rides past
The woman has been identified as Roshanak Molaei Alishah, 25, a Turkish woman
Separately, the Center for Human Rights in Iran confirmed she was arrested on November 3 after she posted a clip of the attack on social media.
In the CCTV footage, she appears not to be wearing a head covering made mandatory by Irans Islamic Republic.
Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad posted on X: In the twisted logic of this regime, its not the assault thats the crime; its the fact that her hair was showing while she did it.
So now, instead of punishing the attacker, theyre opening a case against her for breaking the sacred law of compulsory hijab.
Because in a country theyve ruined, showing a strand of hair is more criminal than assaulting a woman.
Roshanak, whose current fate is unknown, was previously arrested for taking part in the protests against the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini two years ago, Metro has reported.
A spokesperson for Hengaw Organization for Human Rights added: Initially held in Evin Prison, she was subsequently transferred to Qarchak Varamin Prison.
She tries to push her attacker off the motorbike as he rides past
In the CCTV footage, she appears not to be wearing a head covering made mandatory by Irans Islamic Republic
It comes after an Iranian woman who stripped down to her underwear in protest over hijab was allegedly attacked by police and taken to a mental hospital earlier this month.
The young unidentified woman was seen in footage walking around the campus of Tehrans Islamic Azad University science and research branch before security guards detained her.
The widely circulated video on social media shows the woman sitting and pacing back and forth with her arms crossed around the campus in her underwear.
Another clip captured the moment she was detained by security forces and forcibly taken into a car.
University spokesperson Amir Mahjoub confirmed the arrest on X, saying: Following an indecent act by a student at the science and research branch of the university, campus security intervened and handed the individual over to law enforcement authorities.
The motives and underlying reasons for the students actions are currently under investigation.
According to Reuters, Mahjoub also added that: at the police station,...it was found that she was under severe mental pressure and had a mental disorder.
But some social media users suggested the womans action was a deliberate protest.
For most women, being ...in their underwear in public is one of their worst nightmares, ... This is a reaction to the (authorities) stupid insistence on the mandatory hijab, a user on X, said in a comment accompanying the video.
An unidentified female student was arrested in Iran after she was spotted walking around the campus of Tehrans Islamic Azad University science and research branch in her underwear
The brave act was an apparent protest against the countrys strict Islamic dress code
The student reportedly sustained severe injuries following the assault during her arrest
The student reportedly sustained severe injuries following the assault during her arrest, Iran International reported, citing a newsletter by the student group Amir Kabir newsletter.
It said the student was disrobed after being harassed for not wearing a headscarf and having her clothing torn by security forces.
Blood stains from the student were reportedly seen on the cars tyres, the newsletter said, adding that her head was struck either by a car door or a pillar which caused heavy bleeding.
The fate of the woman was not known but the mass-circulation daily Hamshahri said on its website: An informed source said...the perpetrator of this act has severe mental problems and, after investigations, she will most likely be transferred to a mental hospital.
These claims, however, have not yet been confirmed.
Growing numbers of women have defied authorities by discarding their veils after nationwide protests that followed the death in September 2022 of a young Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules.
Mahsa Amini, 22, died after being captured by morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly.
Her death spearheaded mass protests known as Women. life, freedom which lasted months in the country.
A year later, in October 2023, an Iranian teenager named Armita Geravand was injured in a suspicious incident on Tehrans metro while not wearing a head covering.
She later died in the hospital after falling into a coma.