Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has ordered an urgent investigation of an alleged attack Sunday on two women in Orumieh, capital of Iran’s north-western province of West Azarbaijan, for not heeding the Islamic dress code (hijab).
According to Iranian media, a man was arrested after running over the women in a vehicle after an argument over their clothing, which he found inappropriate. The two women, one of whom was reportedly seriously injured, were taken to the nearest hospital emergency department.
The man had reportedly acted on the notion of ‘enjoining good and forbidding wrong,’ which is extolled in the Quran. Hijab, modest dress, is required in public by Iranian law.
The first week of the month of Moharram in the Islamic lunar calendar, which begins August 10 this year, is dedicated in Iran to ‘enjoining good and forbidding wrong.’ Meeting judicial officials Monday, Mohseni-Ejei honored the occasion and stressed the judicial duty of “supporting those who enjoin good and forbid wrong and defend Islamic values.”
Behnam Delrish, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in the government-funded organization dedicated to ‘enjoining good and forbidding wrong’ in West Azarbaijan condemned Monday the Orumieh incident and said it would not be allowed to undermine the importance of the practice.
In September 2014 over a dozen women were attacked with acid in Esfahan and one died. All the women wore the common hijab of coat and headscarf rather than a longer black chador from head to toe. Authorities always condemn physical attacks on women, but prosecution of perpetrators is rare.
Source » iranintl