How one tragedy is bringing Afghans, Iranians together

Afghans and Iranians alike are in uproar over the horrendous fate of a 6-year-old girl on the outskirts of Tehran. Afghan national Setayesh Ghoreishi was brutally raped and killed on April 10, allegedly by her teenage Iranian neighbor Amir Hossein in the suburb of Varamin. Fury grew when the crime went unreported in Iranian media, prompting an outpouring of solidarity and advocacy online.

“Afghans were sick and tired of their own relative silence and the Iranian government’s systematic oppression against them over the past 30 years,” Qudratullah Rajavi, an Afghan migrant and civil rights activist based out of Kabul, told Al-Monitor. He launched the Facebook page I Am Setayesh with hashtags #JusticeForSetayesh and #IAmSetayesh. The page has received over 10,000 “likes” since its creation on April 15. A Wikipedia page has also been created to share Setayesh’s story.