Grief and outrage have spread in Iran and internationally following the killing of 23-year-old student Rubina Aminian by Iranian security forces during protests in Tehran. According to the Norway-based human rights organization Iran Human Rights, Aminian, who was of Kurdish origin and studied fashion design at Shariati College in Tehran, was killed on the evening of Thursday, January 8, after leaving her school and joining demonstrators who had been protesting against Iran’s theocratic regime for more than two weeks.

Sources close to the family told Iran Human Rights that the young woman was shot in the head by security forces. When her parents learned of her death, they traveled from their hometown of Kermanshah to Tehran to identify her body. The family was taken to a location near the college, where they were confronted with the bodies of hundreds of young people killed during the protests. Most of the victims were between 18 and 22 years old and had been shot at close range in the head and neck by government forces. At first, the family was not allowed to identify Rubina’s body, and later they were not permitted to take her remains with them, according to the same sources.

“It wasn’t only my daughter. I saw hundreds of bodies with my own eyes,” Rubina’s mother told the organization. Family sources said they were forced to search among the corpses themselves to find and recognize the young woman, adding that they saw countless dead teenagers and young adults lying near her body.

After great difficulty, the family was eventually allowed to take Rubina’s body back to Kermanshah, her birthplace. However, when they arrived, security forces had surrounded their home and did not allow the family to hold a funeral or bury her properly. According to sources close to the family, they were forced to bury her along the roadside between the Kurdish cities of Kermanshah and Kamyaran in western Iran.
Friends describe Rubina Aminian as a young woman full of joy for life and passion for fashion design, whose dreams were buried by the violent repression of the Islamic Republic. Following her killing, her name has become a hashtag on social media, with many photos and videos circulating that show her love for fashion and her aspirations.

According to the U.S.-based organization HRANA (Human Rights Activists in Iran), more than 500 people have been killed during the two weeks of protests across the country, as security forces continue efforts to suppress the demonstrations.