Fereshteh Ahmadi

Fereshteh Ahmadi (Persian: فرشته احمدی) was a 32-year-old Kurdish woman from Sardasht who lived in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province. She was the mother of two young children, Bavan and Miran.

On Thursday, 5 Aban 1401 (27 October 2022), the day after the fortieth-day commemorations for Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, security forces opened fire during protests in Mahabad. Kurdpa and Hengaw-linked accounts say she was on a rooftop when a combat bullet struck her in the chest. Her brother Ebrahim Ahmadi later told Radio Farda and BBC Persian that she was killed by government fire that day, rejecting a judiciary claim that a shot had been fired from inside the house with no crowd nearby. Her last words, remembered by her family, were to ask that her children be taken care of.

Authorities pressed for a hurried burial and blocked moving her body to Sardasht. She was buried in Hamzeh Abad village near Mahabad. Images of her young daughter grieving at the grave circulated widely. That same day in Mahabad, among others, Zaniar Abubakri was also killed.