Iranian woman defies hijab law, gets flogged, on 'Mother's Day' in Tehran

The sharia law in Iran follows the principles of the Quran. This means that women are expected to cover most of their body in the presence of men who aren't their close relatives.

The Kurdish human rights organization, Hengaw, reported that Heshmati was commanded to wear a hijab for the execution of her flogging sentence.

"I refused, even when he threatened me with a whip and the addition of another 74 lashes to my sentence. I stood my ground and did not put on the hijab," says Heshmati.

Two women then approached her, put a scarf on her head, and handcuffed her so that she couldn't remove it.

Heshmati's flogging was performed on a day in Iran celebrated as Mother's Day, coinciding with the birthday of Fatima Zahra, the Prophet Muhammed's daughter.

As she described, the room where Heshmati's sentence was implemented contained a bed with handcuffs, iron straps on each side of the bed, and an iron device in the shape of stocks, featuring more handcuffs and iron straps.

"It looked like a room completely equipped for torture," the woman reported.

Throughout the flogging, she whispered, "In the name of women, in the name of life, the clothes of slavery tear apart, our night has ended, and all the whips will be discarded…".

Heshmati's advocate, Maziar Tatai, highlighted that the Iranian judiciary constantly changed their allegations against Heshmati during the trial. These accusations included "propaganda against the regime", "being on the streets without the hijab as required by religion", "disrupting public modesty," "creating rude content," and "encouraging people to engage in immoral actions".

The Mizan news agency, associated with the Iranian judiciary, reported that although Heshmati was punished by flogging, the conviction was not for her lack of a hijab, but instead for "promoting libertinism". She purportedly did this on the streets of Tehran after receiving funds from an organized movement abroad.