Iranian authorities have denied reports that security forces killed a 16-year-old girl during protests ignited by the death of a woman in police custody, Iranian media reported on Friday, saying that she committed suicide by falling off a roof instead. The protests were ignited by the death of a woman who was in police custody.
During demonstrations in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of morality police, Sarina Esmaeilzadeh was reportedly killed by security forces when she was hit with batons on the head, according to reports from social media as well as the rights organisation Amnesty International.
The authorities earlier this week cited a similar cause of death — falling from a roof — for 17-year-old Nika Shakarami, who activists believe was slain in Tehran while protesting over the death of Amini.
A crackdown on statewide rallies that marked the largest threat to Iran’s religious authority in years has reportedly resulted in more than 150 deaths, hundreds of injuries, and the imprisonment of thousands of people, according to rights organisations.
The participation of women has been particularly notable, as seen by the waving and burning of headscarves. There have also been participants who are in high school.
According to the semi-official ISNA news agency, the chief judge of the province of Alborz, which is where Esmaeilzadeh’s death occurred, said that a preliminary inquiry found that her death was caused by suicide as a result of a fall from the roof of a five-story building.
According to Chief Justice Hossein Fazeli Herikandi, statements made by opposition media outlets about her death are “false.” According to what her mother told him, Esmaeilzadeh had a history of attempting suicide. “Esmaeilzadeh had a history of suicide attempts,” he stated. According to him, a report of her passing was sent to the police on September 24.
Reuters was unable to get in touch with her relatives for their response.
Esmaeilzadeh “died after being brutally beaten in the head with batons,” according to a report published by Amnesty International on September 30. The study said that she was one of at least 52 persons who were murdered by security personnel between September 19 and September 25.
On the Twitter account of 1500tasvir, which has a large number of followers, a video has been seen around 147,000 times. In the video, Esmaeilzadeh can be seen happy and listening to music.
On September 13 in Tehran, Amini was detained for “inappropriate dress,” which led to the detention. She was reportedly transported to a station to be “educated,” at which point she had a heart attack, as stated by the officials.
Her family has always disputed that she suffered from any cardiac conditions. Her father claims that she had bruises on her legs, and he believes the police are to blame for his daughter’s death.
The administration has given the order to conduct a probe.
State media reported earlier this week that a judicial investigation had been opened into Shakarami’s death. They cited officials as saying that her death had nothing to do with the unrest, that she had fallen off a roof, and that her body did not contain any bullet wounds. The officials were cited in the report. According to activists, she was shot and murdered in Tehran as she was protesting there.
