An Iranian woman who received 40 lashes for wearing a miniskirt has paved an incredible career as a fashion designer.
Tala Raassi is now making bikinis - and if that's not a huge F U to those who persecuted her, I don't know what is.
She moved to the US after her ordeal despite not knowing any English. She's now launched her own swimwear line and written a book.
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Speaking to the Daily Mail, she explained that when she was 16 she attended a party in Tehran, Iran back in 1998. A militant group called the Basij stormed the party. Tala remembered: "They didn't find any drugs or alcohol. The only items they found were foreign VHS tapes, satellite TV, Mariah Carey and Ace of Base cassette tapes, and 90210 posters."
But that, coupled with her attire, was enough. She and her friends were taken to the Vozara detention centre.
"They viewed me as a sinner, a criminal, and an infidel," she said. "We were treated like terrorists caught plotting to overthrow the government."
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Five days later, she was taken into a room where she was put on a bed and lashed 40 times. In her book, Fashion is Freedom, she describes the event. She wrote: "Suddenly I felt the leather whip, drenched in water, lash viciously across my back. The pain was excruciating, and I was so petrified that I lost my voice.
"I could hear the whip whooshing through the air back and forth, and my back felt like it had just caught on fire. It was burning. I thought I was going to pass out. There were no screams left in me."
Fair play to her for turning it around.
Featured image credit: Instagram/talaraassi
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Iran