An Iranian woman was arrested for eating breakfast at a restaurant without a headscarf amid ongoing protests for women’s rights in Iran.
Donya Rad and a friend went viral after images of them eating at the cafe went viral this week online. Coffee shops like the one where the photo was taken are generally patronized by men only in the strict Islamic country.
“After visiting the designated place she was arrested, after a few hours of no news, Donya told me in a short call that she was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison,” her sister told CNN.
The Tehran lockup is known for housing political prisoners.
News of the arrest is the latest evidence of actions by the Iranian regime against its own people in response to two weeks of protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Amini, 22, was detained by the country’s notorious “morality police” for allowing some of her hair to show from beneath her hijab. Though Iranian authorities say she died of a heart attack, her family insists she was killed.
“She was tortured, according to eyewitnesses,” her cousin Erfan Mortezaei told CBS News “She was tortured in the van after her arrest, then tortured at the police station for half an hour, then hit on her head and she collapsed.”
So far more than 1,000 people have been detained and at least 28 reporters have been arrested in the ongoing demonstrations, led by women, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists
