Iranian Teenager Reported Brain Dead by State Media

NY Times-Oct 23rd2023

By Emma Bubola and Leily Nikounazar

Armita Geravand, the Iranian girl who was dragged out of a subway car unconscious shortly after entering with her hair uncovered, has been pronounced brain dead, Iran’s state-owned media reported on Sunday.

Since her collapse on Oct. 1, she has been in a coma, but on Sunday, doctors said that they were not hopeful she would be saved, according to Tasnim News, a semiofficial agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards.

“Unfortunately, her health condition is not promising, and, despite the efforts of the medical staff, the brain death of Armita Geravand seems certain,” Tasnim reported.

Little is known about what happened to 16-year-old Ms. Geravand, but her case has evoked similarities with that of Mahsa Amini, who died last year in the custody of the morality police after being accused of violating Iran’s dress code, prompting a nationwide wave of anti-government protests.

Two journalists, Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who covered Ms. Amini’s case, were sentenced on Sunday to seven and six years in prison for “cooperating with the ‘hostile’ government of America,” according to the semiofficial Fars News Agency.

Ms. Geravand’s case has also given rise to accusations that she was harmed by agents enforcing the hijab rules.

Mohammad Roozbehani, whose brother was shot during the protests in 2022, posted on social media two pictures of Ms. Geravand and Ms. Amini intubated in their hospital beds.

“They say that if you see the same tree twice in the forest, it means you are lost,” he wrote on Oct. 18.

Read more on original:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/23/world/europe/iran-teenager-armita-geravand-brain-dead.html