Political prisoner Somayeh Rashidi dies after denial of medical care
Hengaw – Thursday, September 25, 2025
Somayeh Rashidi, a 42-year-old political prisoner from Tehran, has died at Mofatteh Hospital in Varamin after falling into a coma caused by illness and the denial of medical treatment while held in Qarchak Varamin Prison.
Hengaw previously reported that Rashidi had developed serious health problems in prison. Instead of providing appropriate care, prison doctors accused her of “malingering” and prescribed only sedatives and psychiatric medication. The neglect worsened her condition, leading to seizures and eventual coma.
According to information obtained by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Rashidi died at dawn on Thursday, September 25, 2025, after being denied proper and timely medical intervention.
Sources said Rashidi’s family has been pressured to declare her death the result of “a hospital error.”
Her condition had deteriorated sharply on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, but she was only transferred to hospital after protests from other prisoners. A source close to her family told Hengaw that when she first suffered seizures, prison officials refused to take her to the infirmary, subjected her to beatings, and again accused her of “malingering.”
Rashidi had a pre-existing condition that periodically caused loss of concentration, difficulty moving, and inability to perform daily activities.
She was arrested on April 24, 2025, while writing protest slogans in Tehran’s Javadiyeh neighborhood. Security forces beat her during the arrest and charged her with “propaganda against the state.” After two days at the Agahi 15 Khordad detention facility in Tehran, she was transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison. Following the Israeli attack on Evin, she and a group of other female prisoners were moved to Qarchak Varamin Prison.
