The Iranian officials, on Sunday (July 16) announced that it will relaunch patrols by the so-called morality police in a bid to enforce the hijab rule after a reported increasing number of women leaving their hair uncovered in public. The announcement was made less than a year after the death of Mahsa Amini, whose alleged death in police custody had sparked nationwide protests.
Morality police back on Iranian streets
The announcement was made by the Iranian law enforcement spokesperson, Saeid Montazeralmahdi who said that police patrols were now operational on foot and with vehicles who would resume notifying and detaining women for not wearing a hijab in public.
The morality police would “issue warnings and then introduce to the judicial system people who unfortunately insist on their norm-breaking behaviour without concern for the consequences of their covering that is outside of the norm,” Montazeralmahdi was quoted as saying by the state media.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, the officers have been tasked to warn both women and men to crack down on people whose covering is not deemed appropriate in the Islamic Republic. However, following the nationwide protests, morality police had largely disappeared from the Iranian streets.
But it was not the end of Iranian officials’ bid to enforce the dress code which has been in place since the aftermath of the Islamic revolution of 1979. Over the months, Tehran deployed other measures like closure of businesses whose staff do not adhere to the rules and installing cameras in public places to track down offenders.
According to a report by the Associated Press, on Sunday, Iranian officials returned to the traditional ways where men and women of the morality police could be seen patrolling the streets in marked vans.
Recent arrests
Last week, the police arrested Mohammed Sadeghi, a young and relatively unknown actor after a raid on his home after he posted a video in response to another online video. The footage showed a woman being detained by the morality police, and Sadeghi, in his response wrote “Believe me, if I see such a scene, I might commit murder,” as per the AP.
While the punishment for violating the dress code of the Islamic Republic is fines or prison terms of up to two months. Iran’s reformist newspaper Shargh, on Sunday, also reported that four women received additional punishment which included attending “psychological classes” as well as driving bans.
Less than a year after protests
The announcement of the relaunch of the so-called morality police happened exactly 10 months after the September 16 death of Amini, an Iranian Kurd who died allegedly after being taken into custody for supposedly violating the dress code.
The 22-year-old’s death sparked nationwide protests against the country’s hijab law and the morality police. More than 500 protesters and dozens of security personnel were killed and nearly 20,000 detained during these protests, which as of earlier this year have died down following a heavy crackdown. The Iranian government had also labelled them foreign-instigated “riots.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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