Roya Heshmati

Iranian activist against mandatory hijab

Roya Heshmati (Persian: رویا حشمتی) is an Iranian activist. The Iranian government says that women have to wear a hijab, when they are in public. Hashmati posted a photo of her on social media, where she does not wear a hijab. For this she was arrested, and sentenced to 74 lashes.

Roya Heshmati
Born 1990

Sanandaj, Iran
Known for Execution of whipping sentence for publishing photos without hijab on social networks

Charges and arrest

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After she had published the image, police agents entered her house late at night and arrested her. This was on April 20, 2023. Her mobile phone and laptop were also confiscated. She spent eleven days in jail.

The whipping

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On 3 January 2024, the lashes sentence was executed. She had been charged with causing public chastity injury. Afterwards, Heshmati published a note in which she wrote: "The judge said, 'Don't hit too hard.' The man started hitting me hard. My shoulders, my back, my buttocks, my face, my legs. I lost count of the number of lashes. Under my breath, I was reciting in the name of woman, in the name of life, the garment of slavery was torn, our dark night turns into dawn, all the shackles break."[1] In her note, she explained that she refused to wear a headscarf in court, and then, in front of the judge, in what she described as "a medieval torture chamber," a man whipped her.[2]

Sources

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  1. "compulsory hijab; Roya Heshmati's whipping sentence was executed" (in Persian). Harana. 2024-01-06. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  2. "Reactions to Roya Heshmati's whipping for opposing the mandatory hijab" (in Persian). Radio Farda.