The body of the father of Majid Toutazahi, one of those killed during Zahedan's Bloody Friday protests, was reportedly withheld from his family for 10 days after he died from injuries sustained in a road accident following 40 days of hospitalisation at Khatam al-Anbiya Hospital in Zahedan.
According to the family, hospital officials made the release of his body conditional on the payment of approximately 2 billion tomans in medical expenses. The Toutazahi family, however, is among the city's low-income, undocumented families and was unable to afford such a substantial amount.
Majid Toutazahi, a Baloch resident of Zahedan's Shirabad neighbourhood, was among those killed during Zahedan's Bloody Friday on 30 September 2022 (8 Mehr 1401).
On that day, he had gone to the prayer grounds of Makki Mosque to attend Friday prayers. After the prayers ended, he joined other worshippers in the streets and took part in protests that had erupted in response to reports that a police commander in Chabahar had raped a Baloch girl.
Like many other protesters, Majid was unarmed and chanting slogans in the street. However, police forces opened fire on protesters from the area around Police Station No. 16 and the rooftops of buildings surrounding the prayer grounds.
Majid Toutazahi was killed in the shootings, along with numerous other worshippers and protesters.
Majid's family is among the low-income families living in Zahedan's Shirabad neighbourhood who have endured years of poverty and deprivation resulting from their lack of official identity documents.
Majid himself did not possess an official identity document and had consequently been deprived of many citizenship rights. Members of his family work as labourers to meet their basic living expenses.
Approximately 50 days ago, Majid's father was struck by a vehicle while crossing a street and sustained a traumatic brain injury. According to the family, the driver fled the scene instead of helping the injured man.
Following the accident, Majid's father was transferred to Khatam al-Anbiya Hospital in Zahedan, where he remained hospitalised for 40 days. He eventually died as a result of the severity of his injuries.
The family, still grieving the killing of their son during Zahedan's Bloody Friday, was now confronted with the loss of the father. Yet their suffering did not end with bereavement.
According to the family's account, hospital officials demanded approximately 2 billion tomans in treatment and hospitalisation costs before releasing the deceased man's body.
The family says that, because they lacked official identity documents and faced severe financial hardship, they were unable to pay the requested amount. Despite repeatedly approaching the hospital, they were unable to obtain the father's body.
According to relatives, Majid's father's body remained at the hospital for 10 days.
During this period, family members repeatedly visited the hospital and pleaded with officials to allow them to bury their father. However, their efforts were unsuccessful.
For a family that had already lost a son during Zahedan's Bloody Friday and had spent years living with deprivation caused by their lack of identity documents, the demand for such a large sum placed an unbearable additional burden on their grief and poverty.
They were confronted not only with the death of the father but also with the distress of being unable to receive his body and their inability to pay the demanded medical expenses.
This case raises serious questions about the treatment of undocumented patients and impoverished families by healthcare institutions.
Given the regulations governing medical treatment for road accident victims, it is necessary to establish why such a substantial amount was demanded from this family and on what legal basis the release of the body was delayed.
Lack of official identity documents and poverty must not become grounds for denying people their dignity, legal rights, or equal treatment.
The family of Majid Toutazahi, who had previously lost their son during Zahedan's Bloody Friday, has now faced further suffering in its efforts to bury the father.