🔶 Nika Shakermi; Four Years After Her Death, the Voice of a Young Generation’s Protest

Four years have passed since Nika Shakermi was killed; the 16-year-old who disappeared during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.

Nika disappeared in Tehran on September 20, 2022, at the same time as protests over the killing of Mahsa Zhina Amini. Images attributed to her setting fire to a headscarf during the protests became one of the symbols of this uprising.

About nine days after she disappeared, Nika’s body was returned to her family. Government officials announced that the cause of her death was “suicide”—a account that Nika’s family did not accept.

According to reports that have been published, security forces took Nika’s body from the mortuary and secretly buried it in the village of Vesian. Her family also faced restrictions on holding mourning ceremonies.

Nika’s family rejected the official account of her alleged suicide. Reports published about the condition of her body also raised questions about the cause of her death and how her remains were handled—questions that to date require independent investigation and holding officials accountable.