French authorities have opened an investigation into the suicide of Mohammad Moradi, an Iranian student in France, who was found dead after drowning in the Rhône river. In a video posthumously released, the 38-year-old indicated that his act was a way of highlighting the situation in his home country, which has been shaken by protests for women's rights in the past two months.
Over the past 100 days, the country of Iran has been rocked by a wave of protests demanding improved women's rights in the country after the death of Mahsa Amini.
Amina died after being arrested for not wearing a veil, an obligation for women in Iran. This resulted in the population taking to the streets to protest against the regime, which was met with violent repression by the country's authorities and police and has led to 600 confirmed deaths.
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Furthermore, this protest movement has also spread to members of the Iranian diaspora in European countries, such as France.
'When you watch this video, I will be dead'
On Monday, tragic news came out of the French city of Lyon, reporting that Mohammad Moradi, a 38-year-old Iranian student, had committed suicide by drowning himself in the nearby Rhône river.
Before the act, Moradi had filmed himself in a video that has since been released posthumously on his social media accounts.
He explained that his suicide was "a challenge to show that we, the Iranian people, are very tired of this situation," before adding that "the police (in Iran) are attacking people, we've lost a lot of sons and daughters, we have to do something."
As a result, a small rally was organised in his memory on the banks of the Rhône on Tuesday, with French authorities having since opened an investigation into his death.
