Protests in Boukan Following Reports of 'Torture and Murder' of a Young Girl

Following reports of the death of a young girl in Boukan due to torture and sexual assault, the people of this city have gathered to demand punishment for the perpetrators, and a police official has promised to 'follow up' on the case. Mousa Bahari, the police chief of Boukan in West Azerbaijan province, stated on Friday, February 25, that the demands of the people of Boukan for the 'harshest punishment' for the perpetrators of this case have been communicated to the judicial authorities, and he promised that the case would be handled and a ruling issued in the shortest time possible. According to him, four main suspects related to this case have currently been identified and arrested, and the case is proceeding through legal channels without delay. The IRNA news agency reported that a group of people in Boukan held a gathering in front of the Boukan governor's office on Friday, demanding 'the harshest punishment' for those who assaulted the young girl. In recent days, local media reported the death of a young girl in Boukan due to 'torture and sexual assault.' The human rights website 'Hana' identified the child as Niyan Jabraeili Pour (Chalbian) and reported that she was transferred to Boukan Hospital on January 17 due to 'torture and sexual assault' but died from her injuries. The head of the judiciary in West Azerbaijan announced on February 20 that the child's parents had separated some time ago, and she had been living with her father, who had recently entered into a relationship with a woman. Nasser Atabati also claimed that the child's death occurred with the complicity of this woman and her 19-year-old brother, who had been visiting the father's home over the past six months. He reported the arrest of the primary suspect 'who committed the assault' and stated that accomplices involved in 'beating and abusing this child' have also been sent to prison. While some initial reports indicated the father's involvement in this incident, the newspaper Etemad claimed that the father of the six-year-old Niyan was 'indifferent' to his child's abuse and initially 'fled' after her death in the hospital, later returning to the hospital where he was arrested. Child abuse statistics are not published in Iran, but from time to time, the deaths of children due to torture and physical and sexual abuse, often by close family members, make headlines. The Deputy for Social Affairs of the Welfare Organization of Khorasan Razavi previously stated that in the first three months of this year, 964 cases of child abuse were reported to the social emergency services in this province.