Mahsa Amini's family says they're receiving death threats from Iran regime amid protests

The family of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini who died during police custody three weeks ago due to alleged torture have claimed that the family has received death threats. The members of Amini's family, out of fear, have refused to participate in the ongoing demonstrations against the country's hardline cleric regime. The woman has turned into a symbol against the decade-long Iranian repression after she was arrested by the Islamic Republic's morality police for improper hijab or the head covering and allegedly tight trousers. 

"Our family have been under immense pressure from the Islamic Republic's officials, so we don't talk to human rights organisations or channels outside of Iran and inform anyone from the outside world about her passing," her cousin Erfan Mortezai told BBC during an interview taken at the border in Iraq's Kurdistan Region. 

"The regime's officials have threatened us through Instagram with fake accounts, and told the family members in Iran that if they get involved in the protests, they might be killed," he said.

Receiving many threats over the phone: Amini's cousin 

Amini's cousin further informed that he has been receiving many threats over the phone, "[saying] that if they see me in the city, they will kidnap me and kill me." Amini's father, Amjad Amini, had earlier blatantly accused the Iranian officials of lying about her daughter's death as the regime said that Amini died due to health conditions, and suffered a heart attack. Her family claimed that the 22-year-old was fit, and did not have pre-existing cardiac issues. Mahsa went into a coma and died while she was under detention sparking global outrage against Tehran's stringent dress code rules for women and the harassment by the morality police. “I wanted to see my daughter, but they wouldn't let me in," Amini's father Amjad told BBC earlier. “There were bruises on her feet" and he had requested the doctors to look at her feet. Authorities had pledged to investigate the circumstances leading to the injuries, but Amjad had not heard from them. They ignored me. Now they are lying", he went on to add. 

Police in Iran in a statement cited by the state press said that Amini was not beaten to death, adding that she collapsed during a session of "justification and education." In a report that they published online, Iran's Forensic Organization claimed, “Mahsa Amini's death was not caused by blows to the head and vital organs and limbs of the body.” They stated that Amini’s death was related to the “surgery for a brain tumour at the age of eight.”