Death of a Female Student in Kerman

The head of the Kerman Emergency Center reported the death of a female student from Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman on the evening of Tuesday, November 21. Mohammad Saberi stated that this female student died due to "falling from the third floor of the dormitory." According to this local official, the student was 24 years old and died because of "severe head injuries resulting from the fall." The state news agency IRNA claimed that "this student threw herself down" and that investigations by the responsible authorities are ongoing. No other accounts have been published regarding this incident apart from the state news agency's report, but the increasing pressures on students in recent months and the suspicious deaths of students following last year's nationwide protests have raised doubts about the situation. On September 10, two medical and nursing students lost their lives on the same day. In this regard, media reported that Dr. Fariba Zarei, a female intern at Fasa University of Medical Sciences, died in her dormitory. Atousa Hashemi Nia, a sixth-semester nursing student at Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, also died under "suspicious" circumstances. On June 1, media reported on the "suspicious death" of a distinguished student from Tehran University, which university officials declared a "suicide." In June of this year, two students from Amir Kabir University suffered cardiac arrest under "suspicious" circumstances and died within a week of each other. These cases are just examples of student deaths in the past year, many of which are believed to be related to the protests of 2022. Pressure on students, repression, and harassment, especially of female students, have intensified since the nationwide protests for "Women, Life, Freedom," leading to many students being detained or suspended, and professors who supported them facing similar fates. The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed on September 26, 2023, that "enemies" consider the university as the "focal point of all their efforts" to "distort minds, capture hearts, dominate the space of thought and beliefs of our youth." Students and professors from over 120 universities in Iran, during the nationwide protests of 2022, declared their support for the protesting people and demanded the "overthrow" and complete elimination of the Islamic Republic in Iran. The death of the second student from Amir Kabir University within a week coincides with reports from the Associated Press about the repression of universities and the security atmosphere in Iran on the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini's suspicious death, alongside reports of the "abduction" of five female students from Sanandaj University. A protesting student committed suicide with the slogan "Death to Khamenei"; officials claimed she was "regretful." Sentences of imprisonment and flogging have been issued for protesting students; protests and student strikes continue.