Nahal Sahabi, 28, and her boyfriend Behnam Ganji, 22, who were both active bloggers, committed suicide four weeks apart after being imprisoned just for being friends with a human rights activist.
Mr Ganji was detained for eight days, while Ms Sahabi was held for three days at Tehran’s infamous Evin prison – soon after being released they were both dead.
Mr Ganji was a science student at Tehran University and lived with his close friend and human rights activist Koohyar Goudarzi, 26.
Mr Goudarzi, a member of the Committee for Human Rights Reporters (CHRR) had been previously arrested in demonstrations following President Ahmadinejad’s re-election in 2009.
After spending a year in prison, he continued his activism, which led to him being banned from attending university and again sought after by authorities.
On their hunt for Goudarzi, security agents thought to be from Iran’s ministry of intelligence, burst into the men’s flat and arrested both him and his flatmate Mr Ganji, The Times reported.
They were both taken to Evin prison on July 31, followed by Ms Sahabi and Mr Goudarzi’s mother being arrested shortly after.
Although it has been reported that Mr Ganji spent some of his imprisonment in solitary confinement, details of exactly what happened to him during his time in Evin have not been revealed.
He is said to have come out ‘a broken man’ after the ordeal and would not talk to, see or take calls from anyone after being released.
A friend of Ganji, named Amir, told The Times his friend was beaten by interrogators in the prison and forced him to falsely condemn Mr Goudarzi as a member of the MEK, a criminal opposition group.
Amir believes his friend was tortured, while another friend, Farya Barlas, told the newspaper that Mr Ganji and Mr Goudarzi were apparently raped in front of each other by guards.
The student is said to have become depressed and committed suicide in his flat on September 1 with an overdose of prescription drugs.
Mr Goudarzi however, has not been seen since his arrest and his lawyer told the Guardian by phone that he is still missing.
Authorities at Evin prison deny that he is still there and claim to not know where he is.
Ms Sahabi, a kindergarten teacher, was apparently not as traumatised as her boyfriend after being released by interrogators, but lived in constant fear of rape after guards threatened to ‘dishonour’ her.
When she found out of her lover’s suicide, she was devastated and wrote on her blog: ‘Hey Behnam. Damn you, what am I supposed to do in your absence?
‘Maybe if you can understand someone loves you so much, you could return from death.’
On Thursday, she was found dead in her room at her parents’ house in Tehran after also taking an overdose.
She wrote one last blog before her suicide, reading: ‘So it’s Thursday again. Come, Behnam. Let’s dance together on Thursday once more.’
Their mutual friend Amir said: ‘It’s a story of two young people who were not political, loved each other, and just wanted to get on with their lives, but all of a sudden end up in prison.’
‘Everyone can identify it. Everyone [in Iran] feels it could happen to them. No one is safe.’
Bloggers in Iran have voiced their views on the tragic tale, with one named Darius posting: 'Nahal was a girl of love. Long live love. Long live life. Death to the dictator.'
Ali Zamani posted: 'Do not despair that the black ravens live longer than the canaries.
'It is the singing of the canaries that will live forever.'
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