Zahra Bani Yaghoub

Zahra Bani Yaghoub was an Iranian medical doctor. She died in a prison in Hamedan after she was arrested by the Guidance Patrol. The incident gained attention in the press due to the possible police involvement in her death.

Career

Born in Tehran, Bani Yaghoub studied at Tehran University medical school and worked as a volunteer physician in Hamedan province. Zahra Bani Yaghoub was a distinguished young medical doctor and had several recognitions including her top rank in nationwide university entrance examination. The police told her father: "Iran does not need such medical doctors." Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi has taken the case and is currently the official lawyer of Zahra Bani Yaghoub's family.

Death

In 2007, Iranian police launched a "Public Security Plan and Moralization Campaign". Many Iranian citizens including many women were arrested and questioned for "un-Islamic" behavior. That same year, Zahra was sitting on a park bench with her fiancé when Iranian police arrested the couple. This was considered by the Iranian judiciary to be a breach of modesty laws because the two were not yet married. They were taken to jail and held in separate cells, and Yaghoub died under custody the following day. Iranian officials claimed that the victim committed suicide by hanging herself. However the lawyer did not accept the claims and requested investigations.