Iranian media said on Friday that security forces murdered a 16-year-old girl amid protests after a woman in detention died, claiming she committed suicide by jumping off a roof. Iranian authorities rejected the account.
According to allegations on social media and the rights organisation Amnesty International, security personnel beat Sarina Esmaeilzadeh on the head with a baton during demonstrations after the murder of Mahsa Amini, 22, while she was being held by the morality police, resulting in her death.
Authorities last week cited falling off a roof as the cause of death for 17-year-old Nika Shakarami, who activists claim was slain in Tehran while protesting the killing of Amini.
The largest challenge to Iran’s religious authority in years has resulted in thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries, and more than 150 deaths, according to rights groups.
Women have been actively involved, waving and setting fire to headscarves. Girls in high school have also participated.
According to the semi-official ISNA news agency, Esmaeilzadeh’s death was determined to be the result of suicide after she fell from the top of a five-story building, according to the chief justice of the province where she died, Alborz.
Claims regarding her death made in opposition media, according to Chief Justice Hossein Fazeli Herikandi, are “false.”
Esmaeilzadeh has a history of suicide attempts, according to her mother’s statement, he claimed. On September 24, according to him, police learned of her passing.
Her family was not reachable by Reuters for comment.
She was listed as one of at least 52 persons murdered by security forces between September 19 and September 25 by Amnesty International, who stated that Esmaeilzadeh “died after being brutally hit in the head with batons.”
Around 147,000 people have seen a video of Esmaeilzadeh grinning while listening to music on the well-known 1500tasvir Twitter account.
On September 13, Amini was detained in Tehran for wearing “inappropriate clothes.” She allegedly had a heart attack after being transported to a station to be “educated,” according to the officials.
Her family has disputed that she ever experienced cardiac issues. According to her father, she had bruises on her legs. He also blames the cops for her passing.
An probe has been requested by the government.
State media reported earlier this week that a legal case had been initiated into Shakarami’s death; however, officials later denied any connection to the turmoil, asserting that she had fallen off a roof and had no bullet wounds in her body. She allegedly died in Tehran while protesting, according to activists.
