Thread by @elikasadeghi

Let’s talk about #NikaShakarami. This is so hard to think about, and won’t be easy to read, but I hope you’ll do so anyway…

This is Nika, 16, one of thousands of Iranian girls protesting the murder of Mahsa Jina Amini. On 9/20, while out in Tehran with friends, chanting Mahsa’s name, she was separated from her group. She messaged friends letting them know she was being chased by security forces.

That was her last known contact with anyone. Her phone was shut off and her accounts deleted. Stealing phones and accessing accounts is a common move of these "security forces" in Iran.

Nika was missing for ten days as her loved ones searched for her.

Then her body turned up--

They found her dead at a detention center morgue, and were only given a few seconds to see her face in order to identify her. Her nose had been shattered and her skull broken from multiple blows, likely from batons.

Please note it is likely with great reason they did not allow the family to see what had been done to her body.

They insinuated to them she died from jumping off "a great height." These families have no power or leverage under the Islamic Republic.

These authorities detained Nika’s family members, forced them into false statements that she fell, aired them on state TV, and forced them to agree to bury her quietly. Unconvinced, they stole her body to bury her about 25 miles away, to avoid publicity and further protests.

Nika was buried on her 17th birthday. Brutally murdered for peacefully protesting for human rights, freedom, and democracy. Her whole life ahead of her.

Nika’s story is happening every day in Iran right now. The last count I saw of murdered protestors was 154—it’s surely much higher if that’s what’s reported. So many of these victims are often between the ages of 16-21 and killed for peacefully protesting.

Please be their voice.