Security forces sexually assault Iranian protesters, including teenager, in custody: Human Rights group

Amid the nationwide protests in Iran that have left thousands of people dead, a human rights group claimed that a teenager was among the people who were sexually assaulted in custody by the security forces.

Two people, including a child, who were detained in the city of Kermanshah in western Iran, told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that they were sexually molested by riot police during the detention.

“During the transfer, security forces touched their bodies with batons. They beat and applied pressure to the anal area with a baton through the clothing,” said Rebin Rahmani, of the KHRN.

Over 20,000 people have been arrested so far since the beginning of the protest in Iran in December. Rights groups have expressed the fear of their treatment in detention. Since the start of the current protests in late December, 3,766 people have been killed, and 8,949 other reported deaths are under investigation, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

The Norway-based Kurdish human rights group Hengaw said that a pregnant woman from Langarud, Sholeh Sotoudeh, was killed along with her unborn child. This was after forces opened fire on protesters in north-west Iran on 10 January.