Tehran: Iranian security services have “stolen” the body of a 16-year-old protester named Nika Shakarami and secretly buried her in a village, BBC Persian reported on Tuesday.
Nika Shakarami, participated in a protest demonstration 10 days ago in Tehran on September 20, over the death of a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody on September 16.
The last message ever sent by Nika Shakarami, was to a friend saying that the security forces are chasing her and then disappeared.
The family eventually found Nika’s body in the mortuary room of one of the capital’s detention centers.
“When we went to identify her, they didn’t allow us to see her body, only her face for a few seconds,” Atash Shakarami, Nika’s aunt, told BBC Persian.
The family transferred her body to Khorramabad, her father’s hometown in the west of the country, on Sunday — on her 17th birthday.
According to Iranian-American activist, Masih Alinejad, Nika Shakarami’s family planned to bury her on Monday, but her body was later stolen by Iranian forces and buried 40 kms away in the village of Veysian.
On Tuesday, Iran Human Rights” organization, through its Twitter account, published a video saying, Shakarami’s mother, refuses to remain silent about the killing of her daughter, saying, “Today was your birthday, my dear… Today I say congratulations on your martyrdom.”
Atash, Nika’s aunt, took to Instagram and posted the lyrics of a Persian song, which translate to:
“You slept without lullabies and stories
Take it easy and sleep without pain and sadness
You won’t have winter nightmares anymore
You don’t pick flowers of regret in your sleep
There is no place for the slaps of the wind
The sun doesn’t burn your face anymore
You won’t wake up feeling sad anymore
Either go with hesitation or stay.”
She ended with: “Nika was found; but not alive!”
Protests in Iran
Protests across Iran in defiance of the authorities have continued for 19 days, since the death of Mahsa Amini, who launched a wave of demonstrations to demand freedom for women in the country.
The Oslo-based Iranian Human Rights Organization said at least 92 people have been killed so far in the protests, while Amnesty International has confirmed 53 deaths.
