Families of people killed in the protests in Iran have told the BBC that the authorities are demanding large sums of money to return their bodies for burial. Multiple sources have told BBC Persian that bodies are being held in mortuaries and hospitals and that security forces will not release them unless their relatives hand over money. At least 2,435 people have been killed during more than two weeks of protests across the country. One family in the northern city of Rasht told the BBC that security forces demanded 700 million tomans ($5,000; £3,700) to release the body of their loved one. It was being held at the Poursina Hospital mortuary, along with at least 70 other dead protesters, they said. Meanwhile in Tehran, the family of a Kurdish seasonal construction worker went to collect his body, only to be told they must pay a billion tomans ($7,000; £5,200) to receive it. The family told the BBC that they could not afford the fee and were forced to leave without their son’s body. A construction worker in Iran typically earns less than $100 a month. In some cases, hospital staff have phoned the relatives of the dead to give them an advance warning to come and get the bodies before security forces can extort any funds. BBC Persian has been told about a woman – who we are not identifying for her safety – who did not know her husband was killed until she received a phone call on 9 January on his phone from hospital staff. They told her she should quickly come and collect his body before security forces arrived and demanded payment for its release. BBC Persian was told about this situation by a London-based relative, who has spoken to her. The woman then took her two children to the hospital to find her husband’s body. S …
