After young woman's murder, Iranian women open up about persistent threats

The killing of 24-year-old Elahe Hosseinnejad by a driver from a ride-hailing app has deeply jarred Iranian women who say they live in daily fear on buses, in taxis and on the streets.

Hosseinnejad, a nail technician from Eslamshahr south of Tehran, vanished on her way home late last month, and her body was found days later riddled with stab wounds.

Police later arrested the man driving her, whose account of the murder varied from an altercation over payment to his alleged gendered slur that she had been "shameless", according to Iranian media citing police.

Voice messages and texts sent to Iran International's submissions line point to a deep well of shared trauma and anger in the male-dominated theocracy.

“I was nearly abducted in broad daylight,” one woman said. “I ran into a stranger’s house because I had no other way to escape. And this wasn’t even a remote place—this was a residential street.”

Dozens of accounts tell similar stories. One woman said her Snapp ride-hailing driver changed course three times, laughing when she protested. Another described how a man posing as a Tapsi driver sexually assaulted her on a highway outside Isfahan.

Snapp and Tapsi are Iran’s two leading app-based ride services modeled on Uber.

“These stories have always existed,” another woman said. “What Elahe’s death has done is rip the veil off.”

Hosseinnejad’s body was released under heavy security and buried without a public funeral.

Systemic fear and silence

In the messages submitted to Iran International, women described persistent sexual harassment in taxis, parks, workplaces and schools.

Some said they were assaulted while taking rides, others while walking to university or boarding a bus.

One woman described sitting quietly in a shared car when the driver suddenly pulled over and exposed himself. “I kicked the door open and ran,” she wrote. “But for weeks, he called me from different numbers, threatening to find me.”

“I went to file a complaint, and they asked if I had a witness,” another woman wrote. “I said if I had one, I wouldn’t be in this situation. They told me to drop it if I cared about my reputation.”

Several others shared versions of the same response: authorities demanding impossible evidence, mocking victims or advising them to stay quiet.

“The law is not on our side,” said another woman. “If something happens to you, they treat you like the criminal.”

Ride-hailing platforms in focus

Snapp and Tapsi, Iran’s dominant ride-hailing apps, came under renewed scrutiny following Hosseinnejad’s death.

Many contributors noted that both apps have faced growing criticism for weak driver vetting and limited response to complaints.

“I was 18, and the driver kept making crude comments,” one woman wrote. “When I reported him to Snapp, they told me they’d investigate. Nothing happened. He kept calling me from different phones.”

In several cases, riders said drivers had pressured them to adjust their clothing or implied they could be dropped off mid-trip to avoid fines under Iran’s hijab regulations.

“I wore my scarf just to avoid trouble,” wrote one student. “But the way they looked at me … it was like they were waiting for an opportunity.”

The cost of inequality

Women who contacted Iran International repeatedly returned to one point: gender-based inequality under the law.

“I don’t want revenge,” one woman said of Hosseinnejad’s accused killer. “I want justice. But how can there be justice when our lives are worth half as much under the law?”

Under Iranian law, murder is punishable by death, but when a man kills a woman, the victim’s family must first pay half the standard blood money—set annually by judicial authorities—to the killer’s family before an execution can take place. Activists say this devalues women’s lives and deters families from pursuing justice.

Elahe Hosseinnejad’s story has ignited anger—but also a grim sense of recognition. “She did everything right,” one woman said. “She worked, cared for her family, shared her beliefs—but still, she ended up dead."

That’s what terrifies us most.”