FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Students at the University of Arkansas are holding a memorial on campus for an Iranian woman who died after being taken into custody by Iranian police for allegedly wearing her hijab incorrectly.
On Thursday, Sept. 29, students gathered in Fayetteville at the Union Mall to remember 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, the woman who many feel was killed by the Iranian "morality police."
“I feel the anger of people right now through their text messages,” Masih Alinejad told The Associated Press in New York City, where the 46-year-old opposition activist and writer in exile has lived since fleeing Iran following the 2009 election.
“They have been ignored for years and years,” she said. “That is why they are angry. Iranian women are furious now.”
Amini's death spurred this latest explosion of outrage. She had been detained Sept. 13 for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely in violation of strictures demanding women in public wear the Islamic headscarves.
She died three days later in police custody; authorities said she had a heart attack but hadn't been harmed. Her family has disputed that, leading to the public outcry.
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