While Najafi herself was a prominent social figure on TikTok and Instagram, her viral video showed her tying her unscarved hair back and boldly stepping into the middle of a protest in Karaj. Images and the video of Hadis have sent out shockwaves further sparking the protests going on in Iran since September 16, being widely shared on social media. A second clip later began circulating online, showing the girl’s family weeping over a photo of her on a freshly dug grave.
35 people have died during the recent protests, according to official media in Iran, but non-Iranian media and other unofficial reports insist the death toll is much higher. Demonstrations that erupted more than a week ago at the funeral of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini, who died in detention after being arrested by police enforcing the Islamic Republic’s strict restrictions on women’s dress, have turned into the biggest protests in years.
