A 23-year-old Iranian student was shot in the head at close range during recent anti-government demonstrations in Tehran, according to a human rights organisation.
Details of a Fatal Shooting
Rubina Aminian, a textile and fashion design student at Shariati College in the capital, was killed on Thursday after leaving her college to join a protest. The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights provided the details of her death.
"Sources close to Rubina’s family, citing eyewitnesses, told Iran Human Rights that the young Kurdish woman from Marivan was shot from close range from behind, with the bullet striking her head," the organisation stated.
A Family's Struggle for Burial
The group reported that Aminian's family travelled from their home in Kermanshah, western Iran, to Tehran to identify her body. They had to search among what was described as "the bodies of hundreds of young people."
After retrieving her body and returning to Kermanshah, the family found their home surrounded by intelligence forces who forbade them from holding a burial. Consequently, they were forced to bury her along the road between Kermanshah and the nearby city of Kamyaran.
Speaking to CNN, her uncle, Nezar Minouei, remembered Aminian as "a strong girl, a courageous girl, and she was not someone you could control and make decisions for." He added, "She fought for things she knew were right and fought hard. She was thirsty for freedom, thirsty for women’s rights, her rights."
Rising Toll and International Tensions
The incident occurs amidst a reportedly sharp rise in casualties from the unrest. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency estimates that at least 538 people have been killed in the violence surrounding the demonstrations.
This figure includes an estimated 490 protesters. The group also stated that more than 10,600 people have been arrested nationwide. The protests have prompted a stern warning from Iran to the United States against any form of attack as the domestic situation remains volatile.
Rubina Aminian's case is particularly notable as she is one of the very few victims of the recent crackdown to have been publicly identified, putting a human face on the escalating conflict.
