Sarvar Boroumand and Fatemeh Rajabpour; Mother and Daughter Who Died on June 15

The victims of 88 recount the stories of those who lost their lives during protests against the results of an election. The story of individuals whose lives ended after the tenth presidential election in Iran in June 2009. The narrative of citizens who were killed by direct gunfire during protest marches, beaten in the streets or in prison, inhaled tear gas, run over by police vehicles, thrown from pedestrian bridges, and other violent methods. With the death of each individual, the lives of one or more families were plunged into insecurity and crisis. The Mohammad Ali Jinnah highway and the northern side of Azadi Square are filled with crowds. Today is June 15. Just a few days after the tenth presidential election in Iran and the largest protest march of those who have taken to the streets to voice their dissent. People see the Basij forces of the 117 Ashura battalion on the rooftops and windows of buildings firing upon them. Ehsan Mehrabi, a journalist who was among the crowd that day and was later arrested, recounts that anyone witnessing the unrest in front of the Basij base on June 15 knew that this march could result in several deaths and injuries. 'From noon that day, when people passed by the Basij base and protested, you could see the anger and rage in the behavior of the Basijis standing on the base. One member of parliament called me that day and asked what the situation was like; I told him the area near the Basij base is tense and may lead to clashes.' The paramilitary forces known as plainclothes agents, uniformed Basijis, and riot police are groups present among the protesters in the streets, seeking to disperse and silence the dissenting crowd. The father of Ahmad Naeemabadi, a young man killed that day, states that shots were fired both from the rooftops and from within the crowd: 'Someone in the crowd was given these short-barreled hunting rifles, and they shot these kids from within the crowd; we also said we are complaining about that Basij base. They then said it was birdshot and that we should ask which organization this weapon belongs to. We said it is clear which organization it belongs to, as they have informally armed their own people to identify and shoot the youth among the crowd.' The crowd gradually makes its way home. In corners of Azadi Street, bodies lie on the ground, and people try to assist in transferring them to the hospital. Meanwhile, a middle-aged woman and her daughter seek a way to escape. This woman is named Sarvar Boroumand, and her daughter, Fatemeh Rajabpour, is with her. The two anxiously scan the crowd for a safe spot. Before their eyes, a young man in white collapses, and the concrete street is filled with blood. His name is Davood Sadri. The father of Davood Sadri, a young man killed in the same area that day, recounts that after his son's death, a group of people approached him to help, but the level of violence was such that another group fled to a nearby kindergarten to avoid the gunfire from the Basij forces on the roof of the Basij base. Among those who sought refuge in this kindergarten were a 58-year-old mother and her 38-year-old daughter. She is Sarvar Boroumand, and her daughter is Fatemeh Rajabpour. Nearby, people are busy treating the injured. Suddenly, a wave of the crowd rushes towards the kindergarten located on Mohammad Ali Jinnah Street opposite the Basij base. They close the door behind them. The crowd leans against the door, and someone in the crowd shouts that they are still shooting; this place is not safe either. Among them, the mother and daughter, their eyes filled with fear and anxiety, cling tightly to each other. Suddenly, the iron door of the kindergarten is met with a barrage of gunfire. The faces and necks of the mother and daughter are covered in blood. The father of Davood Sadri, who later went to the kindergarten to hear the accounts of witnesses regarding his son's death, says: 'They quickly replaced the bullet-riddled door of this kindergarten and painted the walls.' He adds, 'When I heard about this mother and daughter, I forgot the pain of my son.' People present at the scene say that when the shooting stopped and everyone felt relieved that there were no more gunshots, they headed towards the kindergarten. Hearing a faint moan coming from the kindergarten drew passersby towards it. The moans belonged to Sarvar Boroumand and her daughter Fatemeh Rajabpour. They were still breathing, but the bleeding had taken its toll. The people who had now reached the two injured women rushed to transfer them to the hospital. However, this mother and daughter lost their lives on the way. One eyewitness states that the gunfire towards the kindergarten was so continuous and relentless that people fled to the surrounding streets in fear and could not stay beside the mother and daughter who had been shot to help them. Therefore, these two injured individuals became weak and lifeless by the time people reached them after the shooting had ended. Security agencies buried the bodies of this mother and daughter in section 45 of Behesht Zahra and repeatedly claimed that these two women were Basijis killed by Green protesters. The Iranian judiciary has never introduced the murderer of Sarvar Boroumand and her daughter Fatemeh Rajabpour to the public. The case of this mother and daughter, like many other victims of 88, was closed and archived.