Footage shows Iranian teen Nika Shikarami singing, dancing before alleged killing by police
Iran claims Nika Shakarami fell off of a building, but her mother says she only suffered head injuries
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New footage shows Iranian teenager Nika Shakarami singing and dancing in front of a crowd prior to her alleged death at the hands of the Islamist regime.
Shakarami, 17, first disappeared while protesting in Tehran on Sept. 20. She had reportedly burned her headscarf and was subsequently followed by Iranian regime enforcers. Her mother accused police of murdering her daughter last week, saying her injuries did not line up with the police account that she had fallen off of a building.
Shakarami is among hundreds reportedly killed in Iran's crackdown against human rights protests across the country. The protests first erupted following the police-custody death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for improperly wearing a hijab.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Women like Mahsa and Nika have become the faces and hashtags of this movement because their cold and violent deaths clearly illustrate the brutality of this regime against all of its constituents, but also underscores how this regime is fixated on controlling and repressing young women who are only asking for their basic freedoms," Foreign Desk editor-in-chief Lisa Daftari told Fox News Digital.
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A man gestures during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 19, 2022. (West Asia News Agency via REUTERS)
A woman cuts her hair during a protest over the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in Iran, in the Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria September 26, 2022. (Reuters/Orhan Qereman )
Iranian authorities sought to conceal news of Shakamari's death for nine days. Police ultimately removed her body from a morgue and buried in a rural area against her family's wishes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PROTESTORS CLASH WITH REVOLUTIONARY GUARD IN NORTHERN IRAN, TORCH IRGC BASE: REPORTS
Iran's claims regarding Shakamari echo its attempt to deny responsibility for Amini's death as well. Amini was released from police custody in a coma and soon died in a hospital, and police claimed she had simply fallen while in custody.
Crowds across the country have chanted "Death to Khamenei!" and "Death to the dictator!" referring to Iran's supreme leader.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, protesters chant slogans during a protest over the death of a woman who was detained by the morality police, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sept. 21, 2022. ((AP Photo, File))
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has condemned the protests as "riots" and blamed the U.S. and Israel for inciting the unrest.
The watchdog group Iran Human Rights states that Khamenei's regime has killed at least 185 protesters in its crackdowns. Police have also cut off internet access in many cities, however, making casualty estimates difficult.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Protesters have set fire to the police station and even killed pro-government enforcers as they demand an end to the Islamist regime.
Fox News' Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.