More protests in Iran after schoolgirl beaten to death
SMA NEWS – TEHRAN
An Iranian schoolgirl has reportedly been killed after refusing to sing a song in favor of the regime in Tehran in her classroom.
Sixteen-year-old Asra Panahi was allegedly beaten along with several classmates by security forces after Shahed girls high school in Ardabil was raided on Oct. 13 amid nationwide protests, according to the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association.
Several of the girls were taken to hospital and a number arrested. Panahi is thought to have died of her injuries.
Iranian state officials denied responsibility, and a man claiming to be her uncle later appeared on state TV following widespread anger at her death to claim she had died of a congenital heart condition.
Protests have spread across Iran in recent weeks following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police in August.
Younger women and girls have been especially prevalent in opposing the regime, with footage going viral of many removing their hijabs and chanting slogans against the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The crackdown against protesters has been brutal, including raids on schools featuring arrests, beatings and tear-gassing, which the country’s teachers’ union called “brutal and inhumane.”
The Iran Human Rights group says 215 people have been killed in the demonstrations and subsequent crackdowns so far, 27 of whom were children.
One schoolgirl, identified pseudonymously as Naznin, told The Guardian newspaper: “I haven’t been allowed to go to the school because my parents fear for my life. But what has it changed? The regime continues to kill and arrest schoolgirls.
