The grave of Mahsa Amini, the young woman in Iran whose death sparked nationwide protests, has been vandalised, according to family’s lawyer and activists. Mahsa Amini (22) was detained by Iran’s morality police over her ‘inappropriate’ attire. She died while she was in custody.
The protests which began after her death were widespread in Iran and lasted for months. Protesters in some cases even called for the downfall of Iran’s clerical regime that has ruled the nation since 1979 revolution. The protests have weakened in amplitude over the last months but haven’t totally stopped.
Amini, who had been visiting Tehran with her family, is buried in her hometown of Saqez in Iran’s Kurdistan province with activists alleging the authorities are determined to prevent any public rallying around it.
France-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said that the grave was attacked on the morning of May 21.
Images on social media, reportedly from the Instagram account of Mahsa’s brother Ashkan depicted that the glass protecting a portrait of Amini at the head of the tomb had shattered.
“Sadly, on Sunday morning, people who are already known to us, and who have done the same things in the past, attacked the grave of Zhina Mahsa Amini,” the family’s lawyer Saleh Nikbakht said in a statement published by KHRN.
It was not specified who these individuals were. But the lawyer said that the authorities had previously intervened in order to prevent construction of protective canopy over the grave.
“So the glass of your tombstone also bothers them? Let them break it a thousand times, we will make it again, let’s see who gets tired,” Ashkan Amini said in his social media post.
Family and supporters of Mahsa Amini said she was killed by a blow to the head when she was in police custody. Authorities claim that she died due to heart attack that was brought on by previous ill health.
Activists accuse the authorities of suppressing the protests with a crackdown that has left over 500 dead, according to Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights.
Iran has also hanged seven men in protest-related cases in what campaigners describe as a deliberate policy to create a climate of fear thorough capital punishment.
Amnesty International warned this week another seven men are at risk of being executed in connection with the protests.
(With inputs from agencies)
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