With massive protests in Iran in the fourth week, videos have surfaced online of a teenager demonstrating against the compulsion for women of wearing a hijab – or a headscarf – in Tehran, hours before her death. In a clip, the teenage girl can be seen dressed in black, standing on a dumpster on a street with a burning headscarf in her hand. The girl waves the burning headscarf and then throws it on the ground. The crowd around her can be heard chanting ‘death to the dictator’ – a reference apparently to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme leader.
Also read: Video: Iran oil refineries’ workers join anti-hijab protests
Identified as Nika Shakarami, she reportedly went missing hours after attending the protest. According to her family, they found her body at the mortuary 10 days after she went missing, reported BBC. It further reported that the family was only allowed to see her face for a few seconds just to identify her.
In an interview with the BBC, the victim’s mother said that she is also against compulsory hijab.
More than 100 people have been killed in Iran so far after the custodial death of Mahsa Amini triggered protests.
The 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian – Amini – was pronounced dead on September 16 after she was detained for allegedly breaching rules that required women to wear hijab headscarves and modest clothes. This sparked Iran’s biggest wave of popular unrest in almost three years. Violent clashes between Iranian protesters and security forces also flared up.
