Atousa Ostadi, born on September 29, 2000, was killed at the age of 22 on August 9, 2023. She was the daughter of Ali Akbar and Masoumeh Dana and had an older brother. Atousa was originally from Tehran and resided in Royan, Mazandaran province, living with her mother.
Her mother had been suffering from cancer for some time. Despite receiving half of her grandfather's military pension from the Shah's era, Atousa began working to help cover the high costs of her mother's treatment and living expenses. She was known as a cheerful, vibrant, and life-loving young woman.
Atousa's brother had participated in the nationwide protests against the presidential election results in 2009 and was subsequently arrested. He was taken to the notorious Kahrizak detention center, where he endured horrific torture and faced fabricated charges. After his release, he developed neurological problems, requiring psychiatric medication, and never fully recovered.
Following the killing of Mahsa Zhina Amini and the onset of nationwide protests in late September 2022, a new wave of public discontent emerged. Atousa and her mother were deeply distressed by the prevailing situation. One day, while her mother was hospitalized for chemotherapy in Babolsar, she held a paper with the slogan “Death to Khamenei” written on it and declared her protest from the oncology ward, stating, “I have cancer and am hospitalized in the oncology ward. Since I cannot go out to protest, I declare my protest as an Iranian from here and say death to the Islamic Republic and Khamenei!”
Atousa filmed her mother's protest. Hospital security personnel confronted her mother for insulting Khamenei and reprimanded Atousa, telling her, “You had no right to film your mother!” An argument escalated, during which Atousa cursed at the security guards. Subsequently, agents secretly injected a substance into her mother's IV, causing her condition to rapidly deteriorate. She had to be transferred by ambulance to a hospital in Babol, where she nearly died but fortunately recovered after three days and was discharged.
Atousa's mother, who required bi-monthly chemotherapy at the Babolsar hospital, was subsequently banned from receiving further treatment there due to Atousa's altercation with security. They threatened to cut her insurance, telling her, “We will make the birds in the sky weep for you.” Her mother defiantly responded, “You can't do a damn thing!” Although doctors and nurses mediated to end the dispute, Atousa constantly felt that intelligence agents were following her afterward, a concern she shared with her mother.
Some time later, on August 9, 2023, Atousa left her home and never returned. She believed that the government agents who had previously threatened her were ultimately responsible for her killing. Her worried mother began searching for her but found no trace until she was eventually informed at a hospital that her daughter had passed away and was in the morgue.
Atousa's mother saw her lifeless body in the morgue, noting bruises on her hands and neck. The forensic report stated the cause of death as “due to impact.” After this horrific killing, her mother was initially told that the court would investigate, but authorities later declared Atousa's death a suicide by hanging. Atousa's family vehemently rejected this claim, asserting that she had no reason to commit suicide and was cheerful and vibrant on the day she disappeared.
Government agents refused to permit Atousa's burial in Babolsar, telling her mother, “Because you are not a native here, you cannot!” Consequently, despite Atousa being born in Tehran, her mother was forced to transport her body to her paternal village in Esfarayen, Khorasan, where she was sorrowfully laid to rest beside her grandfather.
Atousa's mother, feeling isolated in the north with her illness and incurable pain, became paralyzed from intense grief, with doctors attributing her leg numbness to nerve damage. With a heart full of sorrow, she lamented, “Now I am paralyzed and alone. Come and kill me too! You killed my daughter, who was the most precious jewel of my life, and you made my son sick. Nothing matters to me anymore...”