Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 11 January 2026: IHRNGO has obtained details regarding the killing of a young female student that shed light on the scale of the crackdown on anti-government protesters in Iran and further raise concerns that hundreds of people may have been killed during the recent nationwide protests.
Rubina Aminian, 23, a student of textile and fashion design at Shariati College in Tehran, was killed on the evening of Thursday, January 8, after leaving the college and joining protest gatherings. Sources close to Rubina’s family, citing eyewitnesses, told Iran Human Rights that the young Kurdish woman from Marivan was shot from close range from behind, with the bullet striking her head.
After learning of her death, members of Rubina Aminian’s family traveled from Kermanshah, where they live, to Tehran to identify her body.
Sources close to the Aminian family told Iran Human Rights:
“The family was taken to a location near the college where they were confronted with the bodies of hundreds of young people killed during the protests. Most of the victims were young people between 18 and 22 years old, who had been shot at close range in the head and neck by government forces. At first, the family was not allowed to identify Rubina’s body, and later they were not permitted to take her body with them.”
The sources, referring to a statement by Rubina’s mother — “It wasn’t just my daughter; I saw hundreds of bodies with my own eyes” — emphasized:
“The family was forced to search among the bodies themselves to identify their daughter, and they undoubtedly saw many of the bodies of young people killed during the protests.”
The informed sources added:
“After much struggle, Rubina’s family eventually managed to retrieve her body and return to Kermanshah. However, upon arrival, they found that intelligence forces had surrounded their home and that they were not allowed to bury her.”
According to those close to Rubina Aminian, the family was ultimately forced to bury her body along the road between Kermanshah and Kamyaran.
So far, the family has not been permitted to hold any mourning ceremonies. When the family approached several mosques in Marivan, Kurdistan Province, they were told that the mosques were not allowed to host such ceremonies.
Sources close to Rubina Aminian describe her as “a young woman full of joy for life and passionate about fashion and clothing design, whose dreams were buried by the violent repression of the Islamic Republic.”
Shariati Technical and Vocational College for Girls is one of Tehran’s higher-education institutions dedicated exclusively to women, offering a wide range of programs in technical fields, engineering, art, and architecture. The college is located in the Khani Abad-e Now area of Tehran, near Shahid Tondguyan Highway and Bahman Square.