Iranian President orders investigation into violent death of woman arrested by 'morality police'
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered an investigation into the death of a young woman who was arrested by the country's "morality police" for wearing an inappropriate headscarf.
Police say 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in custody from a "heart attack", though this has been challenged by relatives, witnesses and activists who accused police of violently beating her.
The incident has prompted a huge outcry in Iran, where the government's Islamic policies around dress codes are deeply unpopular among a large section of society.
According to the state-run IRNA news agency, President Raisi asked Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi to "investigate the cause of the incident with urgency and special attention."
The headscarf has been compulsory for women in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with this dress code being strictly enforced by the authorities.
While travelling from Iran's Kurdistan region to visit relatives in Tehran, Iran's capital, Amini and her family were stopped by a patrol of morality police on Tuesday evening.
The morality police are a dedicated police force who patrol the streets enforcing Islamic behaviour and strict dress codes, especially that women wear the compulsory hijab or headscarf.
Human rights activists who have spoken to the family say officers manhandled Amini and forced her inside a police van, according to IranWire.
Her brother, Kiarash, tried to intervene, but was told his sister was being taken to the police station for one hour of "re-education," IranWire reported. He said he never saw his sister awake again.
Eyewitnesses said Amini was beaten while inside a police van soon after she was picked up.
Police deny this allegation.
As he waited outside the police station for Amini to be
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