A woman was left paralyzed after being shot by the police because of her hijab

A mother of two has been left paralyzed after being shot dead by Iranian police for allegedly violating the country’s strict hijab laws, a source familiar with the case has told the BBC.

“He is paralyzed from the waist down, the doctors say it will take months to see if he will be permanently paralyzed or not.”

Arezoo Badri, 31, was driving home with his sister in the northern town of Noor on July 22 when police tried to pull him over to take his car.

The driver did not comply with the order to stop, which caused the police to shoot, the Noor police commander told the media in Iran, without mentioning Ms. Badri’s name.

This incident comes after the Iranian police declared austerity for women who defy the nation’s mandatory dress code.

The new measures include the use of CCTV to identify female drivers who fail to cover their heads and the confiscation of vehicles found to be carrying female passengers with uncovered hair.

It followed public outcry over this law continued for a long time after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 when she was arrested by Iran’s moral police for allegedly wearing a hijab, or headscarf, “improperly”.

It is not clear whether Ms Badri was wearing a headscarf when she was stopped by police, but her car had a seizure notice – citing multiple violations of the hijab law.

A BBC source said that the policeman first shot at the wheel of the car before heading towards the driver.

“The bullet entered his lung and severely damaged his spine.”

Colonel Ahmed Amini, Noor’s police chief, said the use of firearms was permitted under Iranian law.

After being rushed to hospital in Noor, Ms. Badri was transferred to hospital in Sari, the provincial capital, for lung surgery. A week later he was taken to the capital of Iran, Tehran.

The bullet was removed after only ten days, said the source.

Police and a BBC source said the windows of Ms Badri’s car were tinted.

Ms Badri is now in the intensive care unit of the police-run Vali-e-Asr hospital in Tehran and is under tight security.

According to the source, his family was allowed to visit for a short while, when their mobile phones were confiscated. Authorities have banned visitors from taking pictures or video of Ms Badri – although some have appeared.

The strict security measures surrounding Ms Badri’s hospitalization are reminiscent of those of 17-year-old Armita Geravand. He died in October after spending 28 days in a coma at Fajr Hospital in Tehran, following an alleged scuffle with police officers in an underground station.

Human rights activists say she was beaten for not wearing a hijab, allegations the Iranian government denies.

Women have been required by law to wear the hijab in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Penalties for breaking the law include fines and imprisonment.

Incidents involving moral police – who are assigned to work with the law – continue to be reported when the wing of the women’s organization, Women, Life, Freedom, Ms. Amini broke out.

Iranian women have told the BBC that they are still willing to break the law despite the increased risk of punishment.

Recently, CCTV footage showing the torture of a 14-year-old girl by hijab police in Tehran sparked outrage.

Nafas Hajisharif’s mother told Iran’s Ensaf News that she found her daughter at the local police station with “bruised face, swollen lips, bruised neck, and torn clothes”.