Davoud Sohrabi, a 30-year-old bodybuilding champion who was shot in the eye with live ammunition on January 8 during protests in Shahr-e Rey, south of Tehran, died on Monday after more than 50 days in a coma, according to information received by Iran International.
Sohrabi underwent surgery to remove his eye after being transferred to hospital and subsequently fell into a coma. His family later donated his organs.
Videos circulating on social media show Sohrabi participating in a southeast Tehran provincial bodybuilding competition earlier that same afternoon, hours before he joined the protests.
Sohrabi had worked from the age of 14 and later became a bodybuilding coach. Following his death, images of him circulated widely online, with some users comparing his appearance to Turkish actor Can Yaman and others calling him “Iran’s Brad Pitt.”
His brother announced on Instagram that their mother had been hospitalized due to the physical and psychological toll of her son’s death. Minutes after the post was published, the story was deleted and all images related to Davoud and his funeral were removed from the account. The page later became inaccessible.
IranWire reported that the family has been under heavy pressure from security authorities and was asked to describe Davoud as a Basij member.
