Four people have been killed in Iran during protests over the death of a 22-year-old woman after she was taken into police custody for allegedly breaking the country's hijab rules, a human rights group said.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said on September 19 that two men were killed in the town of Divandarreh, part of the Kurdish region of Iran, where protests over the death of Mahsa Amini have been the most intense.
Two other people were killed in Saqqez, said the organization, which monitors Kurdish-inhabited areas in western Iran, on Twitter.
The organization identified the two men killed in Divandarreh as Fuad Ghadimi and Mohsin Mohamadi, saying they were civilians "killed by direct fire from armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran." It said 15 other people were injured.
In a separate tweet it said the two people killed in Saqqez died "by direct fire from Iranian regime forces."
There was no official confirmation from Iranian authorities. State TV said a number of protesters had been arrested but rejected the reports of deaths.
Iranian police said earlier on September 19 that Amini's death was an "unfortunate incident" and denied accusations of mistreatment.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has claimed that Amini had a previous illness and that the hijab police "basically do not have the tools to beat the detainees."
SEE ALSO: Woman Who Died After Arrest By Iran's Morality Police Buried Amid Chants Of 'Death To The Dictator'People in the western Iranian city of Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan Province, took to the streets for the second night in a row on September 18 to protest Amini's death.
Amateur videos posted online purported to show a group of women among the protesters taking off their hijab and chanting "Death to the dictator" in an apparent reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Police reportedly fired shots in the air and used tear gas to disperse the protesters. According to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, security forces also using a water cannon to disperse protesters.
At least nine protesters have reportedly been injured in Sanandaj.
دومین روز از اعتراضات مردمی در #سنندج نسبت به قتل مهسا امینییکشنبه ۲۷ شهریور ۱۴۰۱#مهسا_امینی#ژینا_امینی#کولبر_نیوز#kolbarnews@Kolbarnews pic.twitter.com/YqHXp1ZhiS
— Kolbarnews (@Kolbarnews) September 18, 2022
The protest came three days after doctors declared Amini dead on September 16 after she showed no brain activity since falling into a coma after being admitted to the hospital.
According to reports published on social networks, Amini had traveled from the western Iranian province of Kurdistan to Tehran to meet relatives when she was arrested by the morality police on September 13.
Eyewitnesses to her arrest told journalists that Amini appeared to have been beaten inside the police van while being taken to the detention center.
People in Divandarreh, Kurdistan Province, protest Amini's death on September 19.
But businesses and shopkeepers in cities in the provinces of Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, and Alborz went on strike and closed their shops in protest of Amini's death despite threats by the authorities.
The notorious Guidance Patrols -- otherwise known as the morality police or hijab police -- have become increasingly active and violent in Iran. Videos have emerged on social media appearing to show officers detaining women, forcing them into vans, and whisking them away.
The hijab, the head covering worn by Muslim women, became compulsory in public for Iranian women and girls over the age of 9 after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Many Iranian women have flouted the rule over the years and pushed the boundaries of what officials say is acceptable clothing.