Iranian Woman Left Paralysed After Being Shot Over Alleged Hijab Defiance

An Iranian woman was reportedly paralysed after being shot by the morality police who attempted to stop her car for an alleged violation of Iran’s strict hijab law.

"She is paralyzed from the waist down, and doctors have said it will take months to determine whether she will be permanently paraplegic or not," a BBC report said. It was also revealed that the bullet had entered her lungs that resulted in severe damage to her spinal cord.

Badri punished harshly for defying Hijab laws

Arezoo Badri, 31 years old, was driving home with her sister in the northern city of Noor on July 22 when the police attempted to pull her over to confiscate her car. The driver did not comply with the order to stop, prompting the officers to shoot, the police commander in Noor told Iran's state-run news agency, without naming Badri. The incident comes after Iranian police announced a clampdown on the women defying the nation's compulsory dress code.

The incident follows a 2023 public crackdown on hijab-wearing by Iranian authorities. Islamic law has required Iranian women to cover their necks and head since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Police last year reportedly introduced public cameras to document women failing to wear the compulsory headdress and threatened to confiscate the vehicles of drivers who did not comply. Iranians continue to strictly enforce hijab rules for women. An Iranian woman in January received 74 lashes for refusing the headdress, according to various reports.

It was continued by a prolonged civilian outcry over the law in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 while being detained by Iran's morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, "improperly". 

“It is unclear whether Badri was wearing a headscarf when she was stopped by the police, but her car had a confiscation notice against it further suggesting multiple alleged violations of the hijab law,” the outlet wrote. Meanwhile, Badri was hit by a bullet and later fell into a coma, Mamlekate, an organisation of Iranian citizen journalists, reported. She has now been relocated to a hospital in Tehran.