New Details on the Suicide of Ainaz Karimi; Officials in Kazeroon Remain Unaccountable

Warning: Contains content related to suicide. Nothing is more important than human life. If you are thinking about suicide, please contact these special numbers for help: In Iran: Social Emergency 123, Consultant Voice 1480, or Tehran Psychiatric Emergency 44508200. In the USA: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 18002738255, or National Crisis and Suicide Prevention Line 988. In Canada: 911 or 18334564566. In the UK: 116123 and in Afghanistan: 119. Following the suicide of Ainaz Karimi, a teenager from Kazeroon in Fars Province, the Coordinating Council of Cultural Teachers' Associations stated that the cause of this act was pressures resulting from humiliating and strict school interactions. In a report from the newspaper 'Etemad' about the details of this teenager's suicide on November 6, Ainaz's brother said, 'She was studying at the Qabazard school in the village of Daris and was expelled by the school principal, prompting the family to file a complaint.' According to a relative of Ainaz, 'The principal expelled her from class and subjected her to insults and humiliation in front of other students.' He added that Ainaz, after returning home while still wearing her school uniform, hanged herself with a scarf. Meanwhile, the head of education in Kazeroon refused to provide telephone explanations about this incident. According to this report, 'Ainaz Karimi,' a 17-year-old twelfth-grade student, was called by the school principal during class for 'dying her hair and using nail polish' and was not allowed to return to class and was threatened with expulsion by the principal. A local source said, 'We heard that due to non-compliance with disciplinary matters, the principal threatened to expel this student; some say she wore nail polish, others say she dyed her hair. It is still unclear exactly what the principal wanted to expel her for. We also heard that Ainaz told the school officials that she would kill herself that day.' However, one of Ainaz's close relatives said about the day of the incident: 'Ainaz's school was in the village of Daris, but the family lived in the village of Taleghani. That day, the principal insulted Ainaz for disciplinary issues and said inappropriate things; Ainaz's classmates have told us this. The principal did not allow Ainaz to attend class until the last hour, and did not even let her return home.' According to this source, 'Her friends said that Ainaz was very upset by the principal's insults and threats. When she returned home, she did not eat lunch while still wearing her school uniform and hanged herself with a scarf in the storage room of the house. When her family went there, they realized that Ainaz had committed suicide.' This person close to Ainaz Karimi's family said that she was the seventh and last child of the family and had no problems at home, either financially or family-wise. Regarding the legal follow-up by Ainaz's family, he said, 'Her parents are so upset that they have not taken any action for now, but I followed up with the education department of Kazeroon. They told me they would investigate the matter.' In a similar report, on November 13, Arzu Khavari, a 16-year-old Afghan student in Shahr-e Rey, committed suicide after being threatened with expulsion by the school principal due to disciplinary issues. The Tehran education department, in a statement referring to her death after falling from a building, announced that the cause of this act is under investigation. One of her relatives said that the principal had threatened and insulted her and did not allow her to return to class. Reports of Arzu Khavari's death come almost a year after the killing of Armita Garavand, a teenage student, after being pushed by hijab enforcement forces in the Tehran metro. During the nationwide protests of 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, students played a significant role in the demonstrations, and schools, especially girls' schools, were one of the centers of protests, with several students also killed in the crackdown on protests.