A mum whose teenage daughter died during protests in Iran claims she saw injuries on her dead body that showed she was murdered.
Nika Shakarami, 16, went missing in Tehran on September 20 after telling a friend she was being chased by police.
Officials claim she went into a building where eight construction workers were present and she was found dead in the yard outside the next morning.
Nika’s aunt made a statement on TV on Wednesday in which she said her niece “was killed falling from a building”.
But Nika’s mum Nasrin said the aunt was “forced... to make these confessions” to back the authorities’ version of events.
In footage sent to US-funded Radio Farda, devastated Nasrin said: “I saw my daughter’s body myself...the back of her head showed she had suffered a very severe blow as her skull had caved in. That’s how she was killed.”
She added that the authorities “have called others, my uncles, others, saying that if Nika’s mother does not come forward and say the things we want, basically confess to the scenario that we want and have created, then we will do this and that, and threatened me”.
It comes after an official forensics report claimed Mahsa Amini – whose death in the custody of morality police sparked widespread protests – died from existing medical conditions.
Mahsa’s family insist the 22-year-old was beaten to death by officials who accused her of breaking strict laws requiring women to cover their hair. She was held in capital Tehran on September 13 for “inappropriate attire” and died three days later.
The coroner’s report yesterday said her death was “not caused by any blow to the head and limbs”.
Mahsa’s murder has led to three weeks of nationwide unrest as women and girls challenge Iran’s strict religious regime.
Rights groups say over 150 people have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested in a security crackdown.
No10 is under increasing pressure to speak out. Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “ Liz Truss should make her opposition clear by urgently condemning the Iranian regime...and working with partners in the EU and France on sanctions.”
Lib Dem foreign affairs spokeswoman Layla Moran MP added: “The Government must do all it can to put pressure on the Iranian regime to cease the violent repression of protesters.”
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was imprisoned for six years in Iran, said: “We have to hold Iran accountable.”
