At least 41 people have died and over 700, including 60 women, have been arrested in the ongoing protests in Iran over the death of a woman in morality police custody.
22-Year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died after being arrested by Iran's infamous morality police for allegedly not wearing a hijab the proper way. Following her death, largescale protests flared up in multiple cities in the country, with the government resorting to a major crackdown of protestors.
According to web monitor NetBlocks, as reported by news agency AFP, the Iranian regime has also restricted communications platforms like WhatsApp, Skype, LinkedIn and Instagram, among others.
Hundreds of rights activists and journalists have also been arrested in the crackdown.
Iranian state television puts the toll at 41. According to the Iranian government, protestors have set fire to public and private property.
An Oslo-based rights group called Iran Human Rights claims the toll is 54, excluding security personnel. The rights groups also claims that most of the deaths have come in the provinces of Mazandaran and Gilan.
Videos and photos on social media show protestors in Tehran as well as other cities in the country denouncing the government for its stringent laws. Some videos on social media also showed women, in collective opposition to the laws of the land that require all women above the age of seven to wear headscarves, chopping of their hair and burning their hijabs.
AdvertisementThe protests in Iran have spilled over to other nations, with hundreds of expatriate Iranians rallying in many European cities to denounce the government's crackdown on protestors and its stringent laws on headscarves.
Meanwhile, in a counter-protest, thousands took to the streets on Friday as part of a government-backed rally in defence of the dress code.
