Doubts Cast on Government’s Claims Regarding Death of Nika Shakarami, 17-Year-Old Protester

While government media outlets in Iran are simultaneously promoting a uniform narrative claiming that the death of 17-year-old Nika Shakarami did not occur during the recent protests, independent journalists and reporters, citing the Shakarami family, have questioned this government account.

According to members of Nika Shakarami’s family, she was present at the Tehran protests on Kashavarz Boulevard on September 29 and subsequently disappeared.

Based on this report, the teenage girl said in her last phone call to a friend that security forces were pursuing her.

According to Atash Shakarami, Nika’s aunt, after approximately ten days of not knowing her daughter’s whereabouts, the lifeless body was handed over to the family on Saturday, October 9.

In a tweet by Hedieh Kimiyaei, a journalist, she wrote that during the ten days Nika was missing, her family went to Karaj three times and provided her details hoping to find her, but were told no such person was there.

Based on this report, security forces later showed Nika’s body to her mother and aunt, but the two “were not permitted to see the full body” of the girl.

Kimiyaei wrote: “They only showed a part of her face and head, which had a shattered nose and skull. They stole the body and buried it themselves. Nika was held by security agencies for 10 days after being detained on Kashavarz Boulevard.”

This journalist added that Nika’s aunt and uncle have been arrested so that “the extent of the crime” would not be revealed.

Reports have also emerged of Nika Shakarami’s secret burial in a remote village in Lorestan Province, while her family intended to bury her in Khorramabad.

On Tuesday, government-affiliated media and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps outlets such as Tasnim News Agency and Hamshahri newspaper claimed that Nika Shakarami’s lifeless body was found on September 30 in the courtyard of a house on Lebafi Street at Amir Akbar Intersection in the Revolution District.

In these media reports, while claiming that Nika Shakarami was not killed during the nationwide protests, it was stated that the 17-year-old girl died as a result of falling from the roof of a building, and eight workers present in the building have been arrested in connection with the incident.

In this report, Nika Shakarami’s killing by Islamic Republic security forces was denied, and it stated: “These 8 men stated during interrogation that they learned of the incident through neighbors and the presence of security personnel and did not see the young girl.”

Nevertheless, in recent days, many on social media have expressed doubt and skepticism about the news published in government media on this matter.

According to Tehran’s prosecutor, a judicial case has been opened in this regard.

However, the government’s claims regarding investigation into Nika’s death come at a time when significant doubts still exist about the government’s willingness to disclose how Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the Guidance Patrol.

Iran’s Human Rights Organization has announced that the number of deaths in recent protests in Iran has reached “at least 154 people.”

Many of the deceased are young people and adolescents for whom the government has not assumed responsibility.

Previously, the 20:30 program of state radio and television, while confirming the killing of Hadis Najafi, a young protester by gunfire, accused foreign media of killing and claimed that Hadis Najafi was killed by unidentified individuals.

Source: Radio Farda