The grieving family of a young protester from Iran shared their harrowing experience of searching among numerous bloody bodies to locate her remains.
Robina Aminian, a 23-year-old student studying fashion at the Shariati Technical and Vocational College for Girls in Tehran, lost her life on January 8 during the government’s harsh crackdown on protests. Her family suspects she was fatally shot by security personnel.
Upon receiving the tragic news of Robina’s death, her mother, Amina, made the journey from Kermanshah to Tehran to retrieve her daughter. In a distressing turn of events, she had to navigate a crowded morgue to find Robina.
Authorities in Iran have been demanding bribes for the release of bodies, prompting the family to hastily depart with Robina’s remains, fearing interference from guards.
Nezar Minoei, Robina’s uncle speaking from Oslo, revealed, “She actually took the body.”
Subsequently, the family transported the body over 230 miles back to Kermanshah, where they encountered a heavy security presence surrounding their home. In a desperate attempt to avoid losing all connection with their daughter, they hastily buried Robina in an unmarked grave by the roadside.
The Centre for Human Rights in Iran, based in New York, has received reports of intelligence forces extorting money from families in exchange for returning the bodies of protesters. This practice is described as a means to intimidate families into silence.
Several families have recounted being coerced into signing false documents declaring their deceased relatives as security force members before being allowed to retrieve the bodies.
Despite Iranian state television denying these claims and asserting that mortuary and burial services are free, activists estimate that over 3,090 individuals have died during the protests against the regime that began in late December.
Robina’s family maintains that she was not politically active and had joined a protest like many others when security forces opened fire. Her mother was informed of the tragedy through a phone call from friends present at the scene.
Nezar lamented, “She had aspirations for a promising future, but sadly, that future was snatched away from her.”
Relatives in Oslo expressed their inability to reach Amina Norei and other family members in Iran since the weekend.