Iran's judiciary is prosecuting a woman for "disrespecting" the Islamic headscarf after she threw hers to the ground during a public meeting, AFP reported Saturday, citing an Iranian news agency.
"Legal proceedings have been launched against a woman who disrespected her headscarf during the election for the Tehran branch of the Iran Construction Engineering Organization," the Tasnim news agency said.
The announcement came after a short video published by Tehran municipality newspaper Hamshahri showed a woman throwing her headscarf to the ground as participants left the meeting.
"It was falsely claimed that this individual was disqualified (from the branch election) for not wearing the headscarf," Tasnim added, without elaborating.
The incident comes amid ongoing protests in Iran, which erupted in September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested for failing to wear a head covering.
Since the Amini protests erupted last year, more and more women have been venturing out without covering their hair, particularly in Iran's big cities.
On January 10, the judiciary said it wanted to resume implementing enforcing legislation stipulating severe penalties for violations of the dress code, including exile, noted AFP.
This came a month after Iran indicated it would be reviewing the decades-old law that requires women to cover their heads.
Iran has launched a wide-scale crackdown on the protesters, arresting tens of thousands of people. Hundreds have been killed as authorities violently suppressed demonstrations.
In early February, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered an amnesty or reduction in prison sentences for “tens of thousands” of people detained amid the nationwide protests.