Kobra Rezaee, a 26-year-old Afghan refugee woman whose brutal murder in Iran exposed the deadly silence around violence against refugee women.
Kobra Rezaee, just 26 years old and an Afghan refugee struggling to survive in Iran, vanished nearly two months ago after leaving for work—and what was found shattered any sense of humanity. In early June, her dismembered body was horrifically dumped like trash in the Pishva area of Varamin, near Tehran. Her limbs were severed, and parts of her—along with her phone and ID—are still missing, erased as if she never existed. DNA tests painfully confirmed the unbearable truth: this young woman’s life was ended in the cruelest way imaginable.
Iranian authorities claim to have arrested a suspect who confessed, but no transparent updates have been given to her family. Security forces even blocked her burial on June 7, adding further pain and silence to the tragedy. Kobra, who some sources say used the pen name “Shaghayegh,” came from a marginalized Afghan refugee background, like many who struggle daily under racism, sexism, and systemic neglect in Iran.
Her killing, gruesome and gendered, did not receive the widespread media coverage that similar cases involving Iranian women often do. When Iranian women such as Mahsa Amini were murdered, their stories sparked international outrage. But in Kobra’s case—despite the brutality—there has been mostly silence. No global headlines. No national mourning. No mass protests. Just a murdered refugee woman, quietly erased.
This contrast speaks volumes about how Afghan refugees, especially women, are dehumanized. Kobra’s murder is not just an isolated act of violence—it is the result of intersecting systems of oppression: patriarchy, racism, and the brutal conditions of statelessness. Her story deserves to be heard, her name remembered, and justice pursued—not just for her, but for all refugee women whose lives are treated as disposable.