Lawsuit Filed Against 2 Iranian Actresses For Not Wearing Hijab - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd May, 2023) Two well-known Iranian theater and film actresses, Afsaneh Bayegan and Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, have been charged with not wearing a hijab, Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday, citing the police.

The actresses violated the mandatory hijab-wearing Islamic norm at a ceremony honoring famous Iranian actor Atila Pesyani, the report noted, adding that the rest of the women, who attended this event, wore the hijab.

The move comes amid anti-government protests across Iran associated with Mahsa Amini's death. In September 2022, the 22-year-old woman died under suspicious circumstances after being apprehended by the so-called Guidance Patrol, functioning as a morality police, for not wearing a hijab according to national standards.

The protesters accused the authorities of causing the young woman's death by lethally injuring her while she was under arrest, and women massively posted videos of themselves cutting their hair and burning their hijabs. The Iranian government has accused Western countries of encouraging the protesters in an act of interference in Iran's domestic affairs.

Iranian women have been legally obligated to cover their hair with a hijab since the 1979 Islamic Revolution introduced strict requirements related to the religious law and the Islamic dress code.