Adel-Abad Prison is one of Fars provinces most notorious jails. During the 1980s and early 90s several thousand political prisoners were executed there, and recently it became Irans first privately-managed prison. However, it has since come under scrutiny for a record number of incidents such as accidental deaths, murders, rape of prisoners, and last month prisoners set parts of the jail on fire and attempted to escape. Its warden is the former head of prisons in the south-eastern province of Sistan va Baluchestan.
An investigation found that the 17-year-old boy died after he was raped by five adults.
Adel-Abad Prisons minors ward was recently shut down due to mismanagement. Minors are therefore locked up with adult criminals.
Due to lack of space, certain prisoners, including the boy, had been placed in the dangerous and violent criminals ward of the prison.
The state of Irans under-funded and often mismanaged prisons have sharply deteriorated over the past 18 months.
The death of the teenager is the third such incident in Fars provinces prisons over the Autumn period. The prison is in the city of Shiraz.
