Sarina Esmailzadeh

On 23 September 2022, Iranian teenager Sarina Esmailzadeh died of severe beating on the head by security forces during the Mahsa Amini protests in Karaj, Alborz province, Iran, according to human rights organizations.

 She was 16 years old.

The local Justice Department denied any responsibility for her death, claiming that she died by suicide after jumping from the rooftop of a building, and similar claims were made by the authorities about 16-year-old Nika Shakarami who had also attended the protests and died under suspicious circumstances.

After their deaths, pictures of Shakarami and Esmailzadeh appeared on banners during protests and on posters in Iranian cities. Videos created by Esmailzadeh were shared online after her death, and hackers interrupted a government-run news broadcast in Iran with pictures of Esmailzadeh and other women killed during the protests.

@AzatAlsalim · 9h   16 year old Sarina Esmailzadeh was beaten to death by lslamic regime in Iran for protesting for women’s rights. Her last post was "Life is full of pain."