An Iranian woman set herself on fire after learning that she might have faced jail time for trying to enter a soccer stadium where only men are allowed.
Sahar Khodayari, 29, succumbed to her injuries Monday after she set herself on fire last week. Khodayari, who is known on social media as #BlueGirl for the color of her favorite soccer team, lit the fire after she discovered that she could be spending six months in jail if found guilty.
She was arrested in March after she was caught dressed as a man entering an Iranian soccer stadium. Khodayari was wearing a blue hairpiece and had donned a long overcoat before she was caught sneaking in. Women are not permitted into soccer stadiums in Iran, although they are allowed at certain other sports events, such as volleyball.
The death prompted outrage from her favorite soccer team, Esteghlal, which tweeted about her death Monday.
“Our dear Sahar burnt herself to death, when she was charged to 6 month in jail for … going to the stadium to support her #Esteghlal. She supported us despite the politics made it illegal for her, but what we do can do to support her? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING,” the team said.
“We are cowards,” it added.
Our dear Sahar burnt herself to death, when she was charged to 6 month in jail for … going to the stadium to support her #Esteghlal.
She supported us despite the politics made it illegal for her, but what we do can do to support her? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.We are cowards. pic.twitter.com/VTKKa0jvIN
— Esteghlal (@EsteghlalFC_En) September 9, 2019
Parvaneh Salahshouri, a female member of the Iranian Parliament, decried Khodayari’s suicide, calling her “Iran’s girl.”
“We are all responsible,” she said in a tweet.
Mohammad Javad Azari, Iran’s minister of information and communications technology, described the self-immolation and subsequent death as a “bitter incident.”
Khodayari spent three days in jail after her March arrest, and at the time of her death, no verdict had been reached in her case.
