- By Nidhi Giri
- Sun, 15 Dec 2024 10:45 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Iranian authorities have arrested a 27-year-old singer after she performed in a virtual concert on YouTube without wearing a hijab. Parastoo Ahmady was detained on Saturday in the city of Sari, in Mazandaran province, according to the singer’s lawyer Milad Panahipour. The arrest came after a case filed on Thursday after she posted her concert online, where she was seen performing in a sleeveless black dress, her hair uncovered, alongside four male musicians.
"I am Parastoo, a girl who wants to sing for the people I love. This is a right I could not ignore; singing for the land I love passionately. Here, in this part of our beloved Iran, where history and our myths intertwine, hear my voice in this imaginary concert and imagine this beautiful homeland," Ahmady wrote in a post accompanying the video on YouTube.
In an act of extraordinary courage, Iranian female singer Parastoo Ahmadi live-streamed herself singing without the mandatory hejab in a Tehran caravanserai, risking years of imprisonment. Another crack in the foundations of Iran’s rotting theocracy. pic.twitter.com/uHuiVCgVKV
— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) December 12, 2024
The concert had a whooping 1.5 million views on the video-sharing platform. According to a report, the lawyer also confirmed that two of the male musicians, Soheil Faghih Nasiri and Ehsan Beiraghdar, were arrested in Tehran on the same day.
The hijab was mandated by Iranian law in the years following the 1979 Islamic revolution. While many women wear it as an expression of religious faith, others view its enforcement as a restriction on personal freedom.
Protests erupted across Iran in 2022 following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being detained for allegedly failing to comply with the dress code.
Iran’s New Morality Laws
Iranian law prohibits women from singing solo or appearing in public without a hijab. Under new morality laws women could face severe penalties, including the death penalty or up to 15 years in prison, for violating rules related to modesty, such as promoting nudity or improper dress.