Ten People Arrested Over the Past 1.5 Months for Throwing Rocks at Vehicles in Tehran
Following reports of the arrest of an individual who threw rocks at vehicles on Tehran’s highways, causing the death and injury of several citizens, the commander of Tehran police announced the arrest of ten others with the same charges over the past 1.5 months.
Hosein Rahimi, the security commander of greater Tehran, said on Friday, December 24, in remarks to ISNA news agency that the “intent” and “severity” of the actions of these individuals varied, and in one case, police arrested a person who intended to throw a 50-kilogram rock.
According to reports, Tehran police officers arrested a man on the morning of Thursday, December 23, who in recent weeks had thrown rocks and pieces of concrete blocks at passing vehicles on Navab highway, resulting in the deaths of two people, injuries to six people, and damage to eight vehicles.
According to Tehran’s security commander, this individual would hide in locations where vehicle speeds were very high and throw rocks at passenger cars, which indicates he acted with the intent to cause serious harm and kill people.
The defendant in this case, in a video released from his confessions, claims he did not intend to kill others and only wanted to seek revenge.
Stating that he did not know any of the victims, he said: “My intention was to make people understand—those to whom God has given everything—that God has given me nothing, and since I am suffering because of this, they should also suffer.”
This individual subsequently claimed that he had mental and psychological problems and even had a file at a hospital years ago regarding this matter.
Meanwhile, Hamshahri newspaper also reported on Thursday, December 23, the arrest of a 35-year-old man who set fire to expensive vehicles in Tehran to “vent” his anger stemming from poverty.
This individual, in an interview with Hamshahri newspaper, referring to setting fire to five Mercedes and BMW vehicles at different points in the city, spoke about his motives: “Because I couldn’t bear to see people like me able to buy and drive these high-end cars, but I don’t even have the money to buy a regular, cheap car.”
Concurrently with rising inflation and increasing prices in recent years, according to official announcements, statistics on poverty and class inequality in Iran have risen, and during this period, social experts and police officials have repeatedly warned about the increase in crime rates and the decrease in the age of crime perpetration in society.
Bahrouz Mohammadi Najm Abadi, a member of the parliament’s planning and budget commission, announced on Wednesday, December 22, that nearly twenty million people in the country are not in favorable conditions, and among them about three million households live in “absolute poverty.”
Mehrad Abad, a representative of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce board, also on Thursday, December 23, in response to statements by the deputy welfare minister stating that the poverty line for a four-member family is “four million tomans,” said four million tomans is not the poverty line for a family, but rather the “death line.”
According to Mr. Abad, if a family wants to eat meat only a few times during the month, they must spend several times four million tomans, and if they don’t have a home in major cities, they can only eat dry bread.
Source: Radio Farda
