Nika Shakrami, 16 years old, was attacked and killed by security services | the world

Nika Shekarami, 16, became one of the symbols of the massive demonstrations that rocked the Iranian dictatorship in 2022. On September 20, she was photographed burning a hijab in front of a crowd of people. Then she disappeared. The last sign of life was a phone call in which she told a friend that security forces were chasing her.

Nine days later, her family found her body in a morgue outside Tehran.

now BBC She obtained documents marked “top secret” that are said to show what happened to Nika Shakarami that day.

About an hour after the call, a group of the Revolutionary Guards, “Team 12,” found her. She was arrested and taken to their car – an unmarked refrigerator. In the pitch-black cargo hold were Nika Shekarami and three men from Team 12: Arash Kalhor, Sadegh Menjazi, and Behrouz Sadeghi. The group leader and driver were in the driver's cabin.

Hearing sounds of beating

While they were looking for a detention center to put her in, the group's leader, Murtada Jalil, heard noises from the cargo area during interrogation. Through interrogations with the men there, we learned more about what we heard.

Arash Kalhor gagged her with his socks, but she began to resist. Then Sadiq Mangazi came and put it in the refrigerator. Then he sat on it and it became quieter, says Behrouz Sadeghi

According to the investigation, Nika Shakarami must have started cursing and resisting again. Arash Kalhor says he turned on the flashlight on his phone.

Then I saw that Sadiq Menjazi had inserted his hand inside her pants.

The investigation report stated that he did not know who did this, but he heard a club hitting Nika Shakarami.

-I started kicking and punching, but I didn't even know if I hit our men or the suspect.

Sadiq Menjazi denies that it was this way, but he admits that he “got emotional” when he sat on Shukarmi and touched her buttocks. According to Mngazi, this must have made her more upset, which led her to attack him.

– She kicked me in the face, so I had to defend myself, he says.

The noise prompted the group leader to make sure the car stopped. When the back door opened, Nika Chakarami was dead. Then their superiors ordered them to throw her body in the street.