Footage of a man attacking two women in Iran with yoghurt – seemingly for not covering their hair in public – has gone viral.
In the video, the two women are approached in a shop by the man. After talking to them briefly, he takes a tub of yoghurt from a nearby shelf and throws it over their heads in anger.
The man is then removed from the shop by the shopkeeper, with an arrest warrant for all three individuals subsequently issued.
Now, the two women have been arrested, with the Iranian judiciary confirming that the pair were detained for failing to cover their hair in public. The man has also been arrested for disturbing the public order.
The official law dictates that women and girls as young as seven must wear a hijab, placing approximately 40 million under constant surveillance since its introduction after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The “morality” police – as Amnesty International term it – sees state agents patrol the streets in vehicles. These agents have the power to stop women and girls seen without a headscarf, often inspecting their clothing, the length of their trousers and how many strands of hair they have on show.
Under these strict veiling laws, punishment can include arrest, a prison sentence, flogging or a fine.
In recent years, a movement protesting these laws has been growing in Iran. In large cities, many walk the streets without their hair covered.
In September 2022, protests broke out across Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was taken into police custody. Ms Amini was detained in the country’s capital, Tehran, by officers enforcing the veiling laws for an “alleged inappropriate hijab.”
A coroner later found that Ms Amini died from multiple organ failure caused by cerebral hypoxia.
Authorities previously claimed that Ms Amini suffered a heart attack after being taken to a station to be “educated”, but her family deny that she had any heart problems and say police should be held responsible for her death.
