Iranian Teenage Girl And Sister Accused Of Involvement In Militiaman’s Death

Iranian authorities are accusing a teenage girl and her older sister of involvement in the death of a member of the Basij paramilitary force in the northern city of Lahijan last week, IranWire reports.

Atena Farahmand, a 15-year-old accounting student at Sheikh Fazlullah Nouri Lahijan School, was arrested along with two other school students during an anti-government protest on November 3, according to an informed source. Her sister Mona  was wounded after a riot squad opened live fire on the demonstrators.

On the same night, another protester, 23-year-old Erfan Zamani, was shot dead by security agents in Lahijan, while a Basiji was also killed during the unrest, the source said.

"According to what security forces said, Atena and her sister were arrested near the place where this [Basiji] was killed. They are accused of participating in the killing. Atena has been transferred to Lakan prison in Rasht,” the capital of Gilan province.

Farahmand has been discharged from hospital after partially recovering from her wounds.

The mother of a three-year-old has been interrogated by security agencies, the source said, adding that the family was worried about the "baseless" accusations against the two sisters.

Many schoolchildren have joined the nationwide wave of protests sparked by the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Tehran’s morality police. The largely peaceful demonstrations have grown to become the biggest challenge to Iran’s regime since the 2009 protest movement.

The unrest triggered a heavy-handed crackdown in which security forces killed more than 300 people. Several thousand people were also brutally arrested.