ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s judiciary on Saturday denied reports that a murder victim had been raped before she was killed in a case that has sparked outcry in the country.
Elaheh Hosseinnejad, 24, disappeared in Tehran on May 25. Her body was found almost two weeks later. Media reports claimed that the forensic medical department said she had been sexually assaulted.
“The statement by this organization that the deceased was raped is untrue,” the department said in a statement published on Saturday by the judiciary’s media outlet Mizan.
“The results of the expert examinations will be announced to the judicial authority after all necessary scientific measures have been taken,” it added.
Hosseinnejad, a resident of Islamshahr in Tehran’s southern outskirts, was reportedly abducted on May 25 near Tehran’s Azadi Square, one of the city’s busiest public squares. She was returning home from work via a ride-hailing service.
Ten days later, on June 5, police announced that her body had been found and two suspects were arrested.
“Following the publication of news about the disappearance of Ms. Elaheh Hosseinnejad, investigations revealed that she had been murdered,” Tehran Intelligence Police Chief Ali Valipour Goodarzi announced on Thursday, according to IRNA.
According to the police, the driver attempted to rob Hosseinnejad after seeing her expensive phone and stabbed her when she resisted.
A video of a suspect confessing to the murder, however, sparked public outcry and doubts that robbery was the motive, as he claimed to have thrown the victim’s phone out the car window.
The suspect said he did not intend to kill her, but the stab wounds proved fatal, after which he moved her body to the back of the car and then dumped it in a remote desert area near the airport at night, IRNA reported.
The suspect has a history of family-related offenses but no prior record of theft, assault, or sexual violence, Mizan said.
The suspect was a driver for Snapp, a popular ride-hailing service in Iran.
Government spokesperson Elaheh Mohajerani and Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni both offered their condolences on her death and stated that new measures must be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.
“Initial investigations indicate that this heartbreaking incident occurred in the context of a disorganized robbery and in a violent and inhumane manner; an event that is not only deeply regrettable, but also a wake-up call for the need to review our social prevention, surveillance, and deterrence system,” Mohajerani said on Saturday.