Putting The ‘Jab’ In Hijab: Girls Beat Up Iranian Cleric

Women in Iran are still fighting for their basic rights, and, for some of those women, that statement is more literal than metaphorical.

Here in the United States, debates about gender and women’s rights have reached the point where we wonder whether or not we should ban Father-Daughter dances. In Iran, though, women still lack the right to wear what they choose in public, something that didn’t sit well with two as yet unnamed women.

CNN reports that Hojatoleslam Ali Beheshti, a religious cleric in the city of Shahrmirzad, saw two women in public who were not dressed, in his opinion, in a manner consistent with Islamic code. He claims he asked the women politely to cover up, and they not so politely disagreed.

“Not only didn’t she cover herself up, but she also insulted me. I asked her not to insult me anymore, but she started shouting and threatening me,” the cleric said, according to the Huffington Post. “She pushed me and I fell to the ground on my back. From that point on, I don’t know what happened. I was just feeling the kicks of the woman who was beating me up and insulting me.”

The man did not file a complaint with authorities despite a three-day hospital stay, but he’s not opposed to the local prosecutor investigating. Beheshti claims he still needs his wife to help him eat some time after the attack, which occurred last month.

Iranian law has required women to wear the hijab since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and women are frequently harassed and punished for failing to cover up.

(Note: The above photo shows a woman wearing a hijab. The woman pictured was not involved in the attack on the cleric.)