'Grave sleepers' shock Iranians
An article on homeless drug addicts taking shelter in pre-prepared graves in a cemetery shakes Iranian society.
On Dec. 27, Shahrvand daily ran an article that shocked ordinary Iranians and officials alike. The piece, titled “Living inside the grave,” reported on how a group of homeless people had taken shelter in a cemetery close to Shahriar, a town in Tehran province.
“It’s been a month since the cold led the homeless to settle in the big cemetery of Nasir Abad in the suburbs of Shahriar. Some are living inside the cemetery and the pre-prepared graves, and a few families are [residing] around the cemetery,” Shahrvand reported.
According to the daily, “Inside the cemetery, there are 300 pre-prepared graves, 20 of which have been occupied by at least 50 homeless people. One person or sometimes three or four people live inside each grave.”
Shahrvand continued, “These graves are mostly used for sleeping and are vacant during the day, while [these] people are away to collect waste products or beg in order to make money for drugs and food.”
