Iran denies IRGC molested, killed teen protester during Mahsa Amini unrest
BBC report said this week that death of 16-year-old Nika Shakarami was covered up as a suicide after teen was killed by Iranian forces suppressing anti-regime protests
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s judiciary denied on Thursday a BBC report suggesting a teenage girl was sexually assaulted and killed by Revolutionary Guards during the 2022 protests triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death.
Protests erupted across Iran over the September 2022 death of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly breaching the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.
The body of 16-year-old Nika Shakarami, who disappeared on September 20 after joining one of those demonstrations in the capital, was found after a week.
At the time, the authorities in Iran denied the death was linked to the protests, claiming Shakarami committed suicide by jumping from a building.
But a BBC report this week contained allegations the teenager had been sexually assaulted and killed after being arrested by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
During her ordeal, the teenager was beaten by three members of the Iranian security forces using batons and was also shocked with three Taser guns, the report said.
The circumstances of her death were deliberately covered up by those involved, the outlet found, and though the identities of all those involved are listed in the document describing the details of the incident, only one is known to have received a reprimand.
A statement posted on the Iranian judiciary’s “Mizan Online” website responded to the report: “The so-called investigative report of BBC World about Nika Shakarami showed that this media outlet… is not committed to truth and reality,”
The statement added that the report showed the British broadcaster “did not and does not pay attention to the most basic principle of a documented report, which is the possibility of verifying and validating the sources and documents.”
The judiciary’s statement, which contains a number of photos and documents from Tehran’s Legal Medicine Organization, rejected the molestation claim and said the teenager had committed suicide.
Shakarami’s mother has long accused authorities of causing her daughter’s death.
The BBC said 551 protesters were killed by security during Iran’s anti-government Woman, Life, Freedom movement, citing a UN fact-finding mission.
Iranian officials labeled the protests “riots” and accused Tehran’s foreign enemies of fomenting the unrest.
The report came after last month activists said that Iran is again increasing its crackdown on dissidents and enforcing the obligatory wearing of hijabs.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.