YouTube Singer Arrested In Iran For Not Wearing Hijab During Virtual Concert

New Delhi: A female singer who performed a virtual concert on YouTube was arrested by Iranian authorities.

According to her lawyer Milad Panahipour, 27-year-old Parastoo Ahmady was arrested in Sari City, capital of Iran’s Mazandaran province, on Saturday.

Two days before her arrest, the judiciary filed a case regarding Ahmady’s concert, where she performed wearing a long black sleeveless and collarless dress, but no hijab. Four male musicians accompanied her during the performance.

Though the charges against the singer are not known, it is a no-brainer that not covering her head, more so, in the presence of men who are not related to her, is the reason.

After the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, women were first banned from singing altogether, then from singing or dancing solo before mixed-gender audiences.

“Unfortunately, we do not know the charges against Ms Ahmady, who arrested her, or her place of detention, but we will follow up on the matter through legal authorities,” the lawyer told Associated Press.

He also said two musicians in Ahmady’s band — Soheil Faghih Nasiri and Ehsan Beiraghdar — were arrested in Tehran on Saturday.

The online concert, 1.5 million times, was posted on YouTube by the singer.

“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,” she wrote alongside.

The hijab is a political symbol in Iran after it became mandatory from the late ’70s.

It may be recalled in 2022, there were widespread protests in Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police over allegedly not wearing a hijab.