Arezoo Khavari, a 16-year-old student residing in Shahr-e Rey, was reported to have died by suicide on November 3. According to her father, she took her own life due to the strictness and behavior of school staff.
Following reports of the suicide of Arezoo Khavari, her father stated that his daughter’s actions were due to mistreatment and strictness from the school staff, especially from the principal.
In an interview with the state-run media outlet Shargh, published on Monday, November 11, he said that his daughter, after being denied entry to her class, left the school, entered a building, and then jumped from there.
According to Arezoo Khavari’s father, who lost his daughter last week, Arezo had worn jeans the day before her suicide attempt during a school trip, and on the way, she was dancing and celebrating.
He further explained to Shargh network: “Apparently, the principal got angry. The next day [Arezoo] went to school in uniform, but the principal did not let her into the class. She wanted to punish her. They told me she was wearing jeans and was dancing during the school trip.”
The father of this young girl, also told Shargh: “No one from the Ministry of Education came to investigate, nor did anyone from the school. It was as if my daughter hadn’t taken her own life because of what happened at school.”
While exact official statistics on adolescent suicides, particularly among students in Iran, are not available, in November 2021, the Ministry of Education reported an increase in student suicides and a tenfold rise in their risk level.
Following the suicide of Ainaz Karimi, a teenager from Kazerun in Fars Province, the Coordinating Council of Teachers’ Associations attributed her actions to pressures stemming from the school’s demeaning and strict treatment.
In a report from the newspaper Etemad on the details of the teenager’s suicide on October 27, Ainaz’s brother stated that “her family filed a complaint because she was expelled by the school principal.”
He added that Ainaz, after returning home still in her school uniform, hanged herself with a scarf.
According to the report, Ainaz Karimi, a 17-year-old 12th-grade student, was summoned by the school principal while in class because she had “dyed her hair and used nail polish.” She was then barred from re-entering the classroom and was threatened with expulsion by the principal.
However, a close relative of Ainaz said about the day of the incident: “That day, the principal cursed at Ainaz over disciplinary issues; her classmates told us this. The principal did not let Ainaz attend class until the end of the school day and even prevented her from going home.”
During the nationwide protests in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody, students played a significant role in the demonstrations. Schools, particularly girls’ schools, became centers of protest, and several students were killed during the suppression of these protests.
