Iran denies security agents killed a 16-year-old girl, alleging she fells off

• The girl was killed by jumping off a roof, Iranian media say.
• Sarina Esmaeilzadeh died during protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
• Activists say that she was killed in Tehran while protesting Amini’s death.

Iranian officials have denied reports that security forces killed a 16-year-old girl during protests sparked by the death of a woman in police custody. Iranian media said Friday that the girl killed herself by jumping off a roof, which is what Iranian authorities have said in response to the reports.

Amnesty International and social media say that security forces killed Sarina Esmaeilzadeh by hitting her in the head with batons during protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody.

This week, the authorities said that 17-year-old Nika Shakarami died because she fell off a roof. Activists say that she was killed in Tehran while protesting over Amini’s death.

Rights groups say that more than 150 people have been killed, hundreds have been hurt, and thousands have been arrested during a crackdown on nationwide protests. This is the biggest challenge to Iran’s clerical leadership in years.

Women have played a big part by waving and setting on fire their headscarves. Girls in high school have also taken part.

The chief justice of Alborz province, where Esmaeilzadeh died, told the semi-official ISNA news agency that an initial investigation showed that she killed herself by jumping off the roof of a five-story building.

Chief justice Hossein Fazeli Herikandi said that rumours about her death in opposition media were “lies.” “Her mother told me that Esmaeilzadeh had tried to kill herself before,” he said. He said that the police were told about her death on September 24.

In a report released on September 30, Amnesty International said that she was one of at least 52 people killed by security forces from September 19 to September 25. The report said that Esmaeilzadeh “died after being severely beaten in the head with batons.”

On the Twitter account 1500tasvir, which has a lot of followers, a video of Esmaeilzadeh smiling and listening to music has been watched about 147,000 times.

Amini was taken into custody in Tehran on September 13 for “inappropriate clothing.” The police say she had a heart attack after being brought to a station to be “educated.”

Her family has said that she did not have heart problems. Her father said that she had cuts on her legs and blames the police for her death.

The government has asked for a look into what happened.

This week, state media reported that a legal case had been opened into Shakarami’s death. Officials were quoted as saying that it had nothing to do with the unrest, that she had fallen off a roof, and that her body had no bullet wounds. Activists say that she died in Tehran while taking part in a protest.

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