Has Armita Geravand, 16, suffered the fate of Zhina Mahsa Amini?
According to reports published on social media, a 16-year-old girl went unconscious and fell into a coma due to the injuries she suffered as a result of being shoved by the guidance patrol agents in a Tehran metro wagon. This high school student, named Armita Geravand, was allegedly attacked on Sunday, October 1, 2023, while she was boarding the subway train to go to school with her friends at Tehran’s Shohada metro station.
Armita Geravand was transferred by ambulance to the Fajr Hospital located on Pirouzi Ave. in Tehran. The hospital, affiliated with the Air Force, is surrounded by security forces until the moment of preparing this report. Even Armita’s parents are not allowed to visit her.
Maryam Lotfi, a reporter from Sharq Daily, who went to the Fajr Hospital at noon on Monday, October 2, 2023, to prepare a report on the situation of Armita Geravand, was arrested. She was released after a few hours. (The state-run Rouydad24.ir, October 2, 2023)
The authorities forced Armita’s parents, Bahman Geravand and Shahin Ahmadi, to appear on TV and repeat the government’s narrative. In the short interview, her mother says that she was told that Armita’s blood pressure dropped and her head hit the edge of the metro (wagon). “In the morning she went to school. She was supposed to see her friends at the Shohada Metro Station. Now, when they went there… I think my daughter’s pressure… I think her blood pressure dropped, I don’t know… I think… Well, they said that her (blood) pressure dropped. OK? … Her pressure dropped or… Anyway, she fell down and her head hit the edge of the metro.” (The state-run IRNA24 TV, October 3, 2023)
The clerical regime has disseminated edited footage of the entrance of Armita Geravand and her friends to the metro wagon, which is abruptly followed by a scene where her friends are carrying her out. While CCTV cameras are installed in all metro wagons, no footage from inside the wagon has been made available.
According to an unverified report, a source from inside the Fajr Hospital said Armita’s consciousness level is 3 and her pupils are unresponsive to light, and she is near brain death. According to this source, a section has been completely evacuated and is under the full protection of security forces.
