On Sunday, 1st of October, 2023, a 16-year-old female student named Armita Gravand, a resident of Tehran, was subjected to physical assault by security forces in Tehran’s Shohada Metro Station, under the pretext of improper veiling. The intensity of the beatings was so severe that the student fell into a coma and was subsequently transferred to the hospital.
According to the reports received by Iran Human Rights Monitor (IranHRM), Armita Gravand is originally from Kermanshah but resides in Tehran. She is a student at the Urvat ol-Vosgha High School. She was hit on the head in the Tehran subway on Sunday, October 1, before noon, and then she was transferred to Tehran’s Fajr Hospital in the Nirohawai area under strict security control. Fajr Hospital is affiliated with the Iranian government’s army.
Armita Gravand has remained in a coma from that time until now. According to reports from a reliable source, she is under strict security measures at Fajr Hospital, where she has no possibility of any visits, even from her own family. Yesterday, on the 2nd of October, a journalist named Maryam Lotfi went to this hospital to prepare a report and was immediately arrested by the security forces. Despite the fact that Ms. Lotfi is a reporter for the Shargh newspaper. The preparation of the report was approved in advance, but yesterday, she spent hours in detention and was finally released due to the media coverage of this matter.
On the other hand, after two days of no news from Armita Gravand’s family, the Iranian government forces hastily arranged a televised interview with her parents today. In the interview, her mother expressed concerns that her daughter lost consciousness due to a sudden drop in blood pressure and hit her head on the ground, ultimately falling into a coma.
The published film tells the story of the strict security control over her parents, Bahman Gravand and Shahin Ahmadi. And in order to prevent any kind of information, they forced the family and somehow forced them not to tell the truth.
Since 2 p.m. today, Tuesday, October 3rd, officers of the special unit and plainclothes agents, in fear of people’s gatherings and protests, have been stationed in the area of Nirouhawai and Coca-Cola intersection in Tehran and the street leading to Fajr Hospital, and the atmosphere of the Nirouhawai area is highly controlled.
The video released from the Tehran subway shows the moment Armita Gravand entered the train along with some of her friends who took off their Wimples and entered the train. And the next scene after the video cuts, the moment of her fainting can be seen outside the wagon, but no pictures of the inside of the wagon and the events that led to her fainting have been published
It has been reported that all Tehran metro trains have cameras installed inside the carriages. The metro system could potentially have a complete video recording of Armita Gravand’s journey from the moment she entered the metro until she fully exited the train. However, no images or footage from inside the metro have been released thus far.
