Sexual Assault of Several Teenage Boys in Shushtar; Governor: 3 Arrested

A week after officials in Shushtar, Khuzestan province, reported the arrest of three individuals in connection with the "distribution of an obscene video," the governor of the city confirmed on Thursday, November 24, that one of these three was the "perpetrator of the assault on several boys." According to IRNA, Hossein Panbehdanpour, the governor of Shushtar, stated regarding the "release of a video showing a repeat offender assaulting several children and teenagers in this city": "When this video was released, the distributor, the videographer, and this individual were all arrested." The Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, also reported the arrest of a "repeat offender" who "after assaulting several boys, had published their images on social media" along with two accomplices. Last week, Khuzestan officials had only reported the arrest of those involved in the "distribution of an obscene video," and the governor's statements regarding the arrest of the "suspect in the assault on several boys" came after news and images circulated on social media. Last week, the official IRNA news agency quoted "a source in the Shushtar police" stating that the perpetrators of the "widespread distribution of an obscene video" were identified and arrested by the cyber police "within six hours." However, on Thursday, journalist Masih Alinejad, residing in the U.S., initially posted images on her Instagram, stating that a "repeat offender and thug from Shushtar who has been imprisoned multiple times... along with two of his friends" was filming the scenes of the assault on teenage boys and forcing them into silence. This journalist also quoted some relatives of these children, stating that the police had threatened the families of the victims not to speak to the media about this. Nevertheless, the governor of Shushtar denied the claims of "threatening families" in an interview with IRNA, stating that "some families have submitted their complaints, and some are in the process of completing and submitting theirs." Additionally, according to ILNA news agency, the police initially confirmed the arrest of the "perpetrators of the assault on a 12-year-old boy from Shushtar" and hours later warned about the "release of images of a repeat offender who had harassed several teenagers." ILNA reported that the cyber police warned that they would take "legal action" against those who publish images related to these assaults on social media. This news has also received various reactions on social media.