Two teenage girls have been killed after the military regime instructed the commanders of armed forces in all provinces to "severely confront" protesters who took to the streets following the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran's morality police.
On Sept. 16, Amini, 22, was arrested by morality police for not wearing a hijab properly and died days later in a hospital under suspicious circumstances, due to police brutality according to witnesses who reported her being severely beaten, as previously reported.
Police claimed she suffered a heart attack but her leaked medical scans led independent observers to diagnose cerebral hemorrhage and stroke as the cause of death.
YouTuber Sarina Esmailzadeh Brutally Beaten with a Baton
One of the victims, YouTuber Sarina Esmailzadeh, 16, died after security forces violently hit her on the head with batons, according to a report by Amnesty International. The news of her death was confirmed after the security officials handed over her body to her family. Esmailzadeh had been missing for over 10 days.
Nika Shakarmi Went Missing After Protest, Found Dead with Fractured Skull, Broken Nose
The other teen, 17-year-old Nika Shakarmi's went missing after going to a protest rally in the capital of Tehran on Tuesday, September 20.
In a BBC interview, Shakrami's aunt Atesh Shakrami said the last time she saw her leave home was with a bottle of water and a towel, which they later figured out was to fight tear gas. During their last telephonic conversation with her, the teen said she was "running away from the security agents."
Her social media accounts were reportedly deleted a short while later and her phone switched off. The family then desperately searched for her in prisons and hospitals only to receive a call from authorities saying that they had found a body with a matching description in the Kahrizak morgue.
Reports claim, "Her body showed signs that her skull was fractured and her nose had been smashed." The official reports suggest that she died due to falling from a height, a claim that Shakrami's family rejects.
Activists Claim More than 300 People Killed During Mahsa Amini Protests Across Iran
The human right agency Amnesty's figures suggest, "At least 52 people have been killed in protests across Iran" since Amini's death last month." The activists in the country argue that the true number is over 300.
Amnesty's Agnes Callamard said, "The Iranian authorities knowingly decided to harm or kill people who took to the streets to express their anger at decades of repression and injustice."
