Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jul. 04 A final-year university student died after setting himself on fire after a confrontation with a senior faculty staff member, sparking a series of protest demonstrations by students. Jaafar Khalilian, a final-year engineering student at the Open University in Salmas, western Iran, climbed atop the universitys water tower, set himself alight, and jumped off the tower moments later. Iran Focus
Tehran, Iran, Jul. 04 A final-year university student died after setting himself on fire after a confrontation with a senior faculty staff member, sparking a series of protest demonstrations by students.
Jaafar Khalilian, a final-year engineering student at the Open University in Salmas, western Iran, climbed atop the universitys water tower, set himself alight, and jumped off the tower moments later.
Fellow students blamed the clerical regimes officials in the university for the psychological pressures they had put on Khalilian.
They turned down his request to take courses in another university and harassed him for being critical of the way this place is run, a fellow student told the local student news service.
Students staged a demonstration on campus after the incident, calling for the resignation of the universitys top officials. When their demand was turned down, students gathered for a second consecutive day. They accused relevant authorities of having told Khalilians parents that their son died in an accident.
A spokesman for Irans State Security Forces in the district has confirmed that Khalilian died as a result of extensive burning and internal bleeding due to the impact of his fall.
Students accused security officers of trying to play down the tragedy by saying that Khalilian suffered from mental illness; a contention strongly refuted by his friends and fellow students.
