Ayda Rostami committed to the medical ethics oath until her death
Ayda Rostami was born on July 16, 1986, in Gorgan, northern Iran. She lost her father when she was ten, but by working hard and overcoming life’s problems, she could be accepted into medical school and become a doctor.
She volunteered to treat the injured and people in need in many instances, including during the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated the western province of Kermanshah.
During Iran’s 2022 protests, 36-year-old doctor Ayda Rostami went to the western areas of Tehran and Ekbatan township to voluntarily treat those wounded by security forces.
On the night of December 12, she was visiting patients in the Ekbatan area but never returned home after going to the pharmacy to get bandages. At noon the next day, when Ayda’s medical license was sent to her home by mail, the local police station informed her family that Ayda had been killed in a previous car accident and that they should come collect her body.
Rostami’s family was shocked to see Ayda’s body. The right half of her face and her nose were crushed. Her arms were severely broken, and her left eye had several stitches and was completely closed, meaning the left eye was enucleated. There were also bruises and injuries indicating sexual assault on the lower part of her body.
All the evidence indicated that security agents had killed and tortured Ayda Rostami.
The coroner had been ordered to state the cause of death as “being struck by a hard object” in an “accident” in her death certificate. But in response to public outrage, the regime falsely announced once again that Ayda had been thrown from a bridge after an argument with a man.
Ayda Rostami’s funeral was yet another painful ordeal for her family.
The clerical regime first forced them to bury Ayda hastily in Tehran’s Behesht Zahra Cemetery. But according to Ayda’s will, her body was moved to her hometown in Gorgan and was buried in Imamzadeh Abdullah on December 14.
Ayda Rostami was a committed doctor who was killed under brutal torture for keeping her medical oath and treating the wounded of the uprising.
But the memory of Ayda’s courage will remain forever in the hearts and minds of Iranians, inspiring other brave Iranian women and girls until the day Khamenei and his brutal regime are brought down by the people and daring women of Iran.
