Police say there was no violence or physical contact between the officers and the young woman while she was in custody.
Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died this Friday after falling into a coma due to an alleged heart attack, shortly after being arrested earlier this week by the so-called “Morality Police” for wearing her hijab incorrectly. .
According to the state news agency IRNA, quoted by AP , Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi asked Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi to “investigate the cause of the incident with urgency and special attention.”
Police said Thursday that Amini, who was arrested on Tuesday, was taken to a hospital after suffering a heart attack while in custody. On her part, an uncle of the young woman indicated that she had no history of heart disease , according to some media.
Police later stressed that there was no violence or physical contact between the officers and Amini during his custody.
Veiling has been compulsory for women in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and members of the “Moral Police” enforce the strict dress code.
This police institution has been criticized in recent years for its treatment of people, especially young women.
While Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has supported a softer attitude towards women who do not adhere to the official dress code, political hardliners have called for severe punishment and even whipping , arguing that allowing women showing their hair leads to moral decline and the disintegration of families.