An Iranian woman who tried to enter a soccer stadium — an act that is forbidden for females in the Islamic Republic — burned herself to death after she learned that she could be thrown in jail for six months, according to a new report.
Sahar Khodayari, 30, set herself on fire last week after she got word of the possible sentence, stemming from a March incident in which she pretended to be a man to enter a stadium where her favorite team, the Esteghlal Tehran Football Club, was playing.
She died of her injuries at a Tehran hospital Monday, the semi-official news agency Shafaghna reported.
Khodayari, known as the “Blue Girl” on social media for the colors of the Esteghlal team, was wearing a blue hairpiece and a long overcoat when authorities stopped her at the stadium.
She spent three nights behind bars before being released, pending the court case.
No verdict had been delivered in her case by the time of her death.
The team mourned Khodayari’s death in a Monday tweet.
“She supported us despite the politics made it illegal for her, but what we do can do to support her?” the tweet said. “ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. We are cowards.”
Iran’s minister of information and communications technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi called the death a “bitter incident.”
In a tweet, female lawmaker Parvaneh Salahshouri called Khodayari “Iran’s Girl.”
“We are all responsible,” she wrote.
Women are banned from soccer stadiums in Iran, though they are allowed to attend some other sports games, including volleyball.
Reports indicated that Khodayari, who studied computer sciences, had attempted to take her life once before, at university.
With Post Wires
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