Somayeh Mahmoudi Nejad

Somayeh Mahmoudi Nejad (8 October 1995 – 8 October 2022)

Somayeh Mahmoudi Nejad, a 27-year-old Baluch woman, was killed on 8 October 2022 in Qaleh Ganj, Kerman Province, during the period of nationwide protests in Iran.
Somayeh lived with her husband, Ashkan Mahmoudi Nejad, and their eight-year-old son. According to her husband and information published by the Baluch human rights outlet Hal Vash, she had gone to the local market with her son when a police officer allegedly stopped the taxi she was traveling in, ordered her out of the vehicle, and fatally shot her six times in front of her child.
Her husband has stated that the officer had allegedly harassed Somayeh for approximately two months before the killing and had threatened to kill her after she repeatedly rejected his unwanted advances. According to his account, the shooting was the culmination of those threats.
Following the incident, the authorities announced that the suspected officer had been arrested. However, according to the family and human rights sources, no publicly known judicial outcome or accountability has been reported in the years since the killing.
Ashkan Mahmoudi Nejad has repeatedly called for an independent and transparent investigation into his wife's death. In a public video statement released weeks after the incident, he criticized the lack of action by the authorities, stating:

"You convict protesters of moharebeh (enmity against God) within days, yet weeks have passed since my wife was killed, and no meaningful action has been taken."

According to reports from the family, following public attention to the case, some state-affiliated media characterized the killing as a personal or domestic matter. The family has rejected this account, maintaining that Somayeh was killed by a police officer after refusing his alleged harassment.
Human rights organizations and independent observers have documented longstanding concerns regarding impunity for unlawful killings, violence against women, and discrimination against Iran's Baluch minority. Somayeh Mahmoudi Nejad's case has been cited by activists as reflecting these broader concerns and as highlighting the need for an effective, impartial, and independent investigation consistent with international human rights standards.
Nearly three years after her death, her family continues to seek truth, justice, and accountability. Somayeh Mahmoudi Nejad is remembered by many as a young mother whose life was violently taken in front of her child and whose case remains unresolved.