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Iranwire – In the winter of 2023, a teenage girl named Nazireh disappeared from a marginalized neighborhood on the outskirts of Tehran.
Two years later, her family is still searching for answers. But their quest faces an obstacle: in the eyes of Iranian authorities, Nazireh never existed at all.
She had no birth certificate, no identity card, no legal proof that she was ever born. Like thousands of other Baluch women living on the margins of Iranian society, Nazireh belonged to an invisible population – people who fall through every crack in the system, unrecorded in life and easily forgotten in death.
Her story reflects a devastating intersection of poverty, gender discrimination, and ethnic marginalization that leaves some of Iran’s most vulnerable women defenseless against violence and exploitation.
Nazireh, 15, was born into a Baluch family in which no one possessed identity documents – not her parents, not her siblings, not even her extended relatives.
For families like hers in impoverished areas, such as Baqershahr – a settlement on the outskirts of Tehran – the absence of official recognition forces them to live on society’s margins.
Civil society workers and charitable organizations are well acquainted with Baqershahr. The area is home to a mixed population of Iranians and immigrants, many living in severe poverty.
Social problems multiply in neighborhoods where residents lack access to basic services, legal protections, and economic opportunities.
Nazireh grew up in this environment with her two sisters, two brothers, and parents. Like many teenage girls, she had big dreams. But without documentation, those aspirations were permanently out of reach.
She could not attend school, obtain legal employment, access healthcare, or claim any rights afforded to documented citizens.
Nazireh also became a victim of child marriage. She had fallen in love with a young man and hoped to marry him. Instead, her family forced her to wed a distant relative named Shabir.
According to information obtained by IranWire, Shabir struggled with drug addiction and routinely subjected Nazireh to violence.
The teenager found herself trapped in an abusive marriage with no legal recourse and no support system beyond her family.
Three weeks before her disappearance, Nazireh fled to her parents’ home after a severe beating.
She told them she was suffering constant violence and did not want to return. Her family’s response proved devastating: they sent her back within days.
“He is your husband,” they told her, according to accounts shared with IranWire. “Did he beat you? It’s natural. He got angry; it’s okay. Go back to your home and live.”
But Nazireh wanted something different for herself – a life free from violence, a chance to pursue her dreams. Two days before she disappeared, she made one final phone call to her family.
It would be the last time they heard her voice.
On the night Nazireh vanished, Shabir was involved in a violent altercation with another local resident, also a Baluch man without identity documents and a distant relative of both families.
The fight escalated dramatically. The other man beat Shabir nearly to death and stabbed him with a knife.
Shabir fell into a coma. Nazireh’s family learned of the incident only indirectly, when her uncle heard about it from the assailant’s father.
When Nazireh’s mother contacted Shabir’s brother to ask about her daughter’s whereabouts, the family claimed complete ignorance.
From that day forward, no one has seen or heard from Nazireh.
According to activists familiar with the case, at least two other women and girls have disappeared after entering Shabir’s household – one of his wives, the other a teenage Baluch girl. Neither has ever been found, alive or dead.
A Baluch activist in Iran told IranWire that Shabir’s confession – made while severely injured and shortly before falling into a coma – provides the only clue to what may have happened.
He said he overheard Shabir instructing a relative to take Nazireh to another house and hide her.
But Shabir’s family has given contradictory accounts each time Nazireh’s relatives have asked questions.
At various times, they have claimed she fled with Shabir’s assailant or that she is being hidden for her own protection.
“Anything can happen during family disputes,” the activist explained. “In this case, considering Shabir’s history of hiding at least one woman and another teenage girl, we may be seeing the same scenario again. But the problem is that aside from Shabir’s confession, there is no evidence.”
For documented Iranian women, a disappearance would trigger an official investigation, media coverage, and legal proceedings.
For Nazireh, none of these protections exist. Her family waited two weeks before even beginning to search, believing Shabir’s relatives were simply hiding her.
There is no missing persons report because she never officially existed. No marriage certificate exists because her wedding was never legally registered. If she has been killed, there will be no death certificate, no investigation, and no justice.
The activist who spoke with IranWire said the outcomes of such cases are typically tragic, citing the story of Nazila Khosha, a 19-year-old woman forced to marry a violent man when she was 14.
Her family lost contact with her after she moved to Zahedan. Eight months later, authorities discovered her body in a burial site.
