Iranian teen Nika Shakarami made headlines in 2022, as she was found dead nine days after she participated in the uprising protests across Iran countering the mandatory hijab. Iran claimed she committed suicide, however, a recent BBC documentary blames Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Corps Guard (IRCG) for the murder and cover-up.
The revealing documentary shows a confidential report from the IRCG, a classified case summary of Shakarami’s case. The report details the testimonies of the team that was directly involved with the incident.
Shakarami was on the run from the Iranian authorities after she participated in the protests that took place in Laleh Park, Tehran. Later on that evening, she was arrested and put into the back of an unmarked truck, with three male officers.
While restraining the young girl the officers were said to use a baton to “defend themselves.” In the report, one of the men was also seen and admitted to sexually assaulting Shakarami while sitting on top of her.
Amid the commotion, they pulled the truck over, and at that point, they realized Shakarami was dead. The officers then called their superior, who asked those in the truck “to dump her on the street.”
One month after her death, official state television broadcast the investigation into Shakarmi’s case. In the footage, they claim she killed herself by jumping off a building and that “her death was unrelated to the protest.”
CCTV recordings show a young woman entering the building before the death, which the authorities claim to be Shakarami. However, Shakarmi’s mother has said the woman in the video is not her daughter.
Residents reported witnessing a group of men place a girl’s body and photograph it by the building where Shakarami allegedly killed herself, they were seen splashing liquid around the body that appeared to be blood.
Since the publication of the report, Iran’s judiciary has filed charges against journalists and activists involved.
Iran’s state media quoted Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi who disregarded the BBC’s findings saying: “Enemies and their media have resorted to false and unreal reports to carry out psychological operations.”
Vahidi added the report was “an attempt to divert attention” from the pro-Palestinian protests in the U.S. as well as Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel last month.