Efforts to Repatriate the Body of Vida Shahvalad Amidst Controversy

“As soon as the final opinion of the competent authority is made known, the operations related to the transfer of the body of Vida Shahvalad, which had already been initially started in coordination with the competent funeral agencies and the family, will be concluded in order to allow the return of the remains to Iran as soon as possible,” writes the Iranian embassy in Rome, informing that “the necessary procedures for the transfer of the young woman's body are being followed with care and speed by the Embassy and the authorities in Italy. We renew our feelings of regret for the sudden death of Vida Shahvalad, an Iranian student residing in Italy, and of deep condolences to her family, her friends, and the community of students residing in Italy,” the embassy continues. The mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, has made it known that, “should the family wish, we are fully available to receive the body and to provide a dignified burial for Vida in our city because we consider her a citizen of Naples.” It seems to have reached a turning point the issue of the repatriation of Vida Shahvalad, the 21-year-old girl who died together with her boyfriend Vincenzo, in the Secondigliano district of Naples due to carbon monoxide fumes while they were in a car in a garage. A circumstance that would have triggered a controversy in Iran, to the point that the girl's family would have been denied the repatriation of the body, being Vida branded as a “sinner.” A situation “unacceptable,” according to some parliamentarians, who have called for the intervention of the Farnesina. “Some Iranian journalist instead of informing themselves well on the facts thought it well to highlight, with much malice, the fact that the two were secluded in the garage. Among other things, I found the two young people and they were dressed. It was only a terrible tragedy, enough with the denigrating attacks,” said Vincenzo's father today, venting with the deputy of the Green-Left Alliance, Francesco Emilio Borrelli. “Vida was a daughter to me, a wonderful girl and her memory does not deserve to be denigrated and sullied,” the man continues. “Vida has been described for what she was not, that is a ‘no-good’. This has sullied her memory and created significant problems for the family,” said Borrelli, emphasizing that the two young people “loved each other. The Iranian girl was studying in Italy, in Caserta, and lived in Naples, she was esteemed and appreciated. The Islamic Republic and the moral police of Tehran have another idea of the role of women in society.”