Iranian woman went viral after stripping off to protest her treatment at the hands of morality police. Now a friend reveals the horrific price she paid

In November 2024, Iranian student Ahoo Daryaei became a global symbol of defiance after stripping to her underwear in protest at Tehran's Islamic Azad University, following an altercation with morality police over her hijab. According to an exclusive account given to the Daily Mail by a close friend, the mother-of-two's small act of rebellion led to severe reprisals, including violent detention, forced sedation and confinement in a psychiatric ward, with authorities publicly branding her "sick" to discredit her protest. Ms Daryaei rejects this characterisation, insisting she is of sound mind and that the label was used to obscure the regime's mistreatment of her.

The friend described how Ms Daryaei was manhandled by security staff who tried to drag her into a punishment room, prompting her to remove her own clothes in an act of defiance before being bundled into a police van, where her head was allegedly forced between an officer's knees, nearly causing her to suffocate. She was later reportedly injected with sedatives and left tied to a hospital bed for weeks, unable to contact her family, while interrogators accused her of planning to seek asylum abroad. Ms Daryaei has since resumed her studies as a textiles student at another university, though her friend says the psychological toll of the ordeal persists.