Hadis Najafi was a Karaj-area protester killed during the Mahsa Movement that erupted across Iran after Mahsa Jina Amini's death in morality-police custody.
On 21 September 2022, Najafi filmed a short Instagram video of herself tying back her blonde hair before going to the Shahriar demonstration. Two days later she was shot. Forensic documentation leaked to outlets including Iran International and the BBC recorded six to seven gunshot wounds.
The hair-tying video became one of the defining images of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. The state machinery first contested the circumstances, then conceded the killing while denying responsibility. The forensic record settled the question. Iran International was among the early outlets to publish the leaked autopsy details.
Documenting her by name in Persian is part of refusing the regime's preferred amnesia. Naming the dead is what keeps the protest archive alive.
What it is
Hadis Najafi (حدیث نجفی) was a 22-year-old from Karaj, killed in Shahriar on 23 September 2022 during the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising that erupted after Mahsa Jina Amini’s death in custody. Two days before her killing she posted a now-iconic Instagram video of herself tying back her hair before joining the protest. Forensic findings leaked to international media documented six to seven bullet wounds across her neck, chest, and abdomen. Her family identified her body at the morgue in Karaj. The state initially refused to release the body until the family agreed to a quiet burial.
Sources
- Amnesty International, deaths of protesters by security forces (December 2022)
- BBC News, Hadis Najafi coverage (September 2022)
- UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (A/HRC/55/67, March 2024)
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