Iran abolishes 'morality police' after months of protests over young woman's death

Iran's morality police which were attached to Iran's law enforcement agencies have been removed after months of protests against their brutal role

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Iran's morality police explained by an expert

Iran's brutal and controversial morality police have been removed after more than two months of protests.

"The morality police have nothing to do with the justice system" and have been abolished, said Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, quoted Saturday evening.

The Morality Police was attached to Iranian law enforcement and its role was to enforce Islamic morality as prescribed by the highest religious authorities in the Islamic Republic.

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by Iranian vice police has sparked the country's biggest uprising in decades.

She was arrested for improperly wearing her hijab and later died in police custody, possibly at the hands of police.

An unveiled woman standing on the roof of a vehicle as thousands march towards the hometown of Mahsa Amini (

Picture:

CGU/AFP via Getty Images)

The protests saw women burning their headscarves in a defiant act of resistance against the Islamic Republic's strict dress code and those who enforce it and in solidarity with Ms Amini.

The Morality Police was established under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2006, to "spread the culture of modesty and hijab".

A vice officer spoke anonymously to the BBC about his experience working in the force and said: "It's like we're going hunting. They expect us to force them into the van. Do you know how many times I got in tears doing it?"

Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, said of their role: "These are state security forces that are in charge... to harass and subjugate women and thus make a constant show of force.