Demonstrators in solidarity with the protest movement in Iran, in Istanbul, Turkey, September 29, 2022. (Credit: Dilara Senkaya/Reuters)
Iran's judiciary on Wednesday rejected any connection between the recent death of a teenage girl and protests over the death in police custody of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini.
A wave of unrest has rocked Iran since 22-year-old Amini, whose Kurdish first name was Jina, died on Sept. 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly breaching the country's strict rules on hijab headscarves and modest clothing.
The street violence has led to dozens of deaths — mostly of protesters, but also members of the security forces — and hundreds of arrests.
Reports on social media claimed security forces killed teenager Nika Shahkarami last month, but the judiciary rejected the allegations on Wednesday.
An autopsy showed "multiple fractures ... in the pelvis, head, upper and lower limbs, arms and legs which indicate that the person was thrown from a height," state news agency IRNA quoted Tehran judiciary official Mohammad Shahriari as saying.
"No bullet marks were found ... and the evidence shows the death was caused by the person being thrown," he said, adding: "The incident has nothing to do with the recent disturbances."
Earlier, Tasnim news agency said eight people who were working in a building near the scene had been arrested in connection with Shahkarami's death.
"The investigation into the case ... is still ongoing, and the forensic experts have not yet submitted their final report on this incident to the judicial authorities," Tasnim reported.