Authorities destroy the family home of an athlete who competed without a veil

Elnaz Rekabi made waves around the world when he showed up at the Asian Climbing Championships in Seoul in October climbing without a headscarf. This action, interpreted by many as a gesture of solidarity with the protests of women in Iran, after the death of Mohsa Amini, deserved retaliation from the Iranian authorities for Elnaz’s family. It is now revealed that the athlete’s family home has been completely destroyed.

Pictures posted on social media show Daoud, Elnaz’s brother, crying in front of the pile of rubble that will be the family’s home. The videos also show the medals removed from the rubble, which belonged to Elnaz and his brother, who is also a climber.

According to BBC Persia, the police searched the house a month ago, after which it demolished the house, which will be in the name of Daoud Rekabi, the brother of the Iranian athlete.

Last month, Iranian police demolished a home belonging to him # Victory_RkabiScience brother bbc persian.

Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi competed without a headscarf in a competition in South Korea in October.
I was forced to apologize.

Daoud, Elnaz’s brother, is also a climber pic.twitter.com/R6xL62Hefx

– Parham Ghobadi (@BBCParham) December 1, 2022

The Tasnim news agency, which is controlled by the Iranian government, says the house was demolished but was not an act of revenge. According to the Iranian authorities, Dawood did not properly handle one of the building permits for the house, so it had to be demolished.

After competing without the Islamic headscarf, Elnaz posted a video on social media saying she had forgotten to wear the headscarf. Once again, upon her arrival in Iran, the athlete once again confirmed to reporters that it was “not intentional” the fact that she did not wear a hijab, stating that she had forgotten to put it on while wearing it.

Shortly after returning home, Elnaz and his brother were arrested and interrogated by the Iranian authorities.