An Iranian court has sentenced singer Parastoo Ahmadi to 74 lashes and banned her from leaving the country for two years because she performed without wearing a hijab (mandatory head covering), according to BBC Pidgin. Several other musicians received the same punishment.

In Iran, women must wear a hijab in public — it's the law. When Ahmadi sang on stage without one, she broke that law. The court in Qom, Iran's most religious city, decided to punish her and the other artists.

The number 74 matters. Iran's laws say that sentences of 75 lashes or higher require more legal protection for the defendant. By stopping at 74, the court can give a harsh punishment while avoiding those extra legal protections. This is a deliberate choice courts make.

The travel ban is significant for a working musician. It means Ahmadi cannot perform at international festivals, travel to concerts abroad, or earn money from foreign audiences — the financial lifeline many artists depend on when work is hard to find at home. And since multiple artists were punished together, this wasn't just one case. It looks coordinated.

Since 2022, when massive protests broke out in Iran over women's rights — called the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement — more people have started refusing to wear hijabs in public. After the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police, crowds openly defied the dress code. The government has cracked down sometimes and eased up other times, but the courts keep issuing tough sentences against visible people like singers and actors. It sends a message: if you're famous and you break this rule, you'll be punished.

Punishing several artists in one case also sends a message: if you stand together against the law, the punishment won't be softer. In fact, it might be harder. It's a way to discourage people from resisting together.

International human rights groups say whipping is cruel and shouldn't happen. Iran signed an international treaty promising to follow human rights rules, but it says those rules don't apply when they conflict with Islamic law. This disagreement comes up often, and cases like this one get attention from the United Nations and from countries like those in Europe that are considering whether to punish Iran with economic sanctions.

It's unclear whether the lashing will actually happen. In past cases, Iranian courts have handed down these sentences but then later converted them to fines or didn't enforce them. But the travel ban is easier to enforce — the government can just block her from leaving. That restriction is probably already in place.