There is nothing more devastating to a mother than the loss of her child. For the past two years, Nasrin Shakarami has been on a personal crusade against the government of Iran. Despite being pressured to change her story to conform to the official government narrative, she has instead been very outspoken to the media, an act that may have resulted in her recent arrest.
On October 16, 2024, Nasrin was arrested in the city of Khorramabad in Western Iran. Her daughter Aida told the media that she was unaware of the reason for her arrest, only that Nasrin was very upset that security forces had prevented her from having a special memorial ceremony for her daughter Nika.
Nasrin is the mother of 16 year old, Nika Shakarami, whom she claims was abducted, tortured, sexually assaulted, and killed by agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, two years ago during the "Woman, life, freedom "uprisings in Tehran.
Nika had been distraught by the brutal death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish girl, who was beaten to death while in custody for an alleged hijab violation. On September 20, Nika left home and joined protesters in the streets to speak out against Mahsa's death. She had posted a video on her Instagram account, showing her standing on top of a dumpster, burning her hijab and shouting "freedom!"
Nasrin remembers calling Nika on her cellphone, begging her to come home, but because of the noise level in the background, she was unable to hear her response. She discovered later that Nika had called her best friend informing her that she was being pursued by security officers. That was the last time Nika was ever heard from. Ten days later after a frantic search, Narsin was called to view her daughter's body in a morgue. She was horrified by the bruises all over Nika's face and the deep gash in the back of her head. The official autopsy report concluded that Nika had died from blunt force trauma to the head.
From the very beginning, the official government narrative was that Nika was observed entering a high-rise structure and then leaping off the roof in an apparent act of committing suicide. Nasrin refused to believe that narrative and also denied it was Nika in a video provided by police that allegedly showed her entering the building late at night.
Frustrated by Nasrin's refusal to accept their version of Nika's death, the government then arrested family members and forced them to confess on State TV that Nika's death was by suicide and had absolutely nothing to do with the protests. Nasrin refused to comply with their demands and continued to talk to the media and expose the deliberate cover-up of her daughter's death.
In one more bold attempt to oppress a grieving mother, security forces secretly stole Nika's body before her funeral and had her secretly buried in another location to prevent a large gathering and more anti-government protests. Yet Nasrin refuses to be silent and back down. In the last few months, more pressure has been put upon her family. Her other daughter Aida was arrested for a hijab violation and held in detention for a week. After being released, Aida went back out publicly without wearing a hijab, refusing to comply with Islamic Law.
Nasrin is very proud of her daughter's courage to protest. She vividly remembers on October 2, 2022, what would have been Nika's 17th birthday, she posted on social media a special commemoration to her: "It was your birthday today, my love. Today I must congratulate you on your martyrdom."
Nasrin is a warrior. She is unafraid of speaking out against a dictatorship government, understanding the risk that it is for her life and well-being. She refuses to cower in fear and agree to the false narrative put out by the government. She refuses to go on State TV and tell a lie in order to protect her life. Nasrin refuses to keep silent about the murder of her daughter and is busy exposing the lies of this evil regime and telling it to the whole world via social media. The government has been very busy for the past two years punishing the families of slain protesters, but they picked the wrong person to punish. Nasrin will not keep silent!
You can read the full story of Nika's last night on earth as she bravely stood up to the Islamic Republic of Iran, by reading my book, "Uprising: We are the Revolution," available in Paperback, Kindle, and Audiobook," on Amazon.
