A WOMAN has laid bare the brutal punishment she reportedly received at the hands of authorities after she was caught attending a party with boys and drinking alcohol.
The 28-year-old Iranian woman received 80 lashes after an Iranian court found her guilty of the offences more than two years after she attended a party in the second biggest city of Mashhad.
Masih Alinejad, a former journalist who administers the Facebook page My Stealthy Freedom, posted an interview with the unnamed woman who suffered shocking injuries after her ordeal.
Posting under the #NoToLashes, Alinejad’s post goes into detail how the woman was initially arrested for consuming alcohol at a party, something which is strictly forbidden in Iran.
While her arrest by male police was bad enough, the anonymous woman said the treatment she received at the hands of Iranian authorities was far worse.
Following her arrest she writes how she was taken to a clinic where she was tested to see if alcohol was in her system before female staff asked her to remove her clothes.
When she objected, she was reportedly told: “Really? You do not seem to be uncomfortable to remove your clothes in front of guys”.
But worse was to come. After waiting more than two years for her verdict and punishment, she was whipped.
“Eight lashes for having consumed alcohol and having gone to a place to participate in sinful (haram) activities. When I read the verdict, my entire world fell apart,” the woman writes.
The punishment that followed was horrific.
“The day when I headed for the prison so that they could lash me was the worst day of my life,” the post reads.
“In the prison, I was lashed while my feet were chained and my hands were shackled.”
But she goes on to say she hadn’t realised the depth of the horror she was about to experience “until a middle-aged woman accompanied by a younger one entered the room and asked me what my crime was”.
The punisher told her it was for having a relationship before telling her to strip down to just one layer of clothing.
“I remember seeing the glimpse of the thick hands of the woman who was about to lash me,” the post continues.
“I instinctively thought that she would perhaps be merciful with me and refrain from hitting me hard. Yet, with the impact of the first lash, I jumped out of my place uncontrollably.
“Every time she hit me hard, she would ask me to repent so that God would forgive me. After having suffered those 80 lashes, I realised that she had targeted one part of my back.”
While that was brutal enough, the woman goes on to say what was most shocking was she was being punished simply for celebrating a friend’s birthday and was treated like a complete criminal.
It wasn’t exactly clear when the punishment was carried out or how severe her injuries were.
The My Stealthy Freedom Facebook page contains submissions from women who have risked recriminations from strict morality police by posting pictures of themselves without their headscarves.
New York based and former journalist Alinejad made headlines last year when she called on Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to avoid wearing a hijab in her first visit to the country, saying it would be “unacceptable” to the women in Iran.
Interaction between men and woman is strictly forbidden in Iran and is punishable by lashings and prison.
While women aren’t allowed to dance, Tehran night-life is full of secret house parties and techno raves, theInternational Business Timesreported.
Both men and women face severe punishment if caught.
But not only do women remove their hijabs at such parties but they also remove their modest clothing — a strict part of the Islamic dress code.
According toHuman Rights Watch World Report 2016, women continue to face discrimination in many areas of Iranian life including personal status matters related to marriage, divorce and child custody.
HRW also report women and girls are prevented from attending certain sporting events and cannot marry without the approval of her male guardian.
Source: / news /