| Zahra Bani Yaghoub | |
| Native Name: | زهرا بنییعقوب |
| Native Name Lang: | pes |
| Birth Date: | 16 October 1980 |
| Birth Place: | Tehran |
| Death Place: | Hamedan |
| Nationality: | Iranian |
| Occupation: | Medical doctor |
Zahra Bani Yaghoub (Persian: زهرا بنییعقوب, also mentioned in the media as Zahra Bani Ameri;[1] 16 October 1980[2] – 13 October 2007) was an Iranian medical doctor. She died in a prison in Hamedan after she was arrested by the Guidance Patrol. The incident gained attention in the press due to the possible police involvement in her death.[3]
Born in Tehran, Bani Yaghoub studied at Tehran University medical school and worked as a volunteer physician in Hamedan Province. Zahra Bani Yaghoub was a distinguished young medical doctor and had several recognitions including her top rank in nationwide university entrance examination. The police told her father: "Iran does not need such medical doctors."[4] Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi has taken the case and is currently the official lawyer of Zahra Bani Yaghoub's family.[5]
In 2007, Iranian police launched a "Public Security Plan and Moralization Campaign". Many Iranian citizens including many women were arrested and questioned for "un-Islamic" behavior. That same year, Zahra was sitting on a park bench with her fiancé when Iranian police arrested the couple. This was considered by the Iranian judiciary to be a breach of modesty laws because the two were not yet married.[6] They were taken to jail and held in separate cells, and Yaghoub died under custody the following day.[7] Iranian officials claimed that the victim committed suicide by hanging herself.[8] However the lawyer did not accept the claims and requested investigations.[9]