Iranian boxer Reza Moradkhani after he was shot by a hijab police
A court in Iran has dismissed a lawsuit by an Iranian boxer who was shot by a morality police officer while he was promenading in a park with his wife and 11-month daughter.
Reza Moradkhani said in an interview with Shargh daily published Saturday that they were walking in the Pardisan park in Tehran late in May when a 22-year-old morality police officer confronted his wife, Maria Arefi, and following verbal confrontation with the agents they pepper sprayed Moradkhani and Arefi and even their toddler.
Moradkhani then charged for one of the agents who had insulted his wife and the agent fired 10 shots at him, four of which hit the Iranian national team boxer, resulting in his hospitalization.
The Moradkhanis said that they had filed a complaint at the military court but that the court ruled against them and charged them with removing hijab and attacking a police officer.
The incident has gone viral on Iranian social media, with people condemning hijab policing and police impunity.
The paper quoted a witness as saying that the police officer who fired at Moradkhani forced bystanders who were recording the incident to erase their phones.
Moradkhani, who has been a boxer for the Iranian national team for many years and has won several Asian and world medals, is now unable to continue coaching due to the injuries in the incident.