RASHT — The gravestone of Behnam Layqpour was vandalized in Rasht cemetery in Iran, according to the Iranian legal network DadBaan. Layqpour, a 37-year-old tattoo artist, died during the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom protests.

Layqpour's sister stated that paint had been thrown over his grave in previous incidents. She said, "If only you knew that every blow you struck upon it landed on the heart of a mother who still breathes with his memory... landed on the soul of a sister who still waits in hope to see him... landed on the shoulders of a brother who carries the pain of his absence with him every day... and landed on the hearts of all those who would never trade their love for Behnam for anything."

Human rights groups claim Layqpour's body was returned to his family after four days on the condition that they declare his cause of death a heart attack. Members of Layqpour's family, however, told the citizen journalism site IranWire that he was shot at close range.

A video, which claims to have been taken on June 19, shows the vandalized grave. Members of Layqpour's family can be heard stating in the video, "After three years and nine months, they still won't leave this poor deceased person alone. We will not be defeated. We will rebuild it even more beautifully than before."

Layqpour's sister additionally stated, "This act of yours is nothing but a display of disrespect and a fall from humanity, of which no trace remains!" Members of Layqpour's family also said, "No matter how much you destroy it, may you never find peace. Nothing is diminished from Behnam's worth and values. Whoever did this to Behnam, may a curse be upon everything you have and everything you don't have."

The United Nations' special rapporteur described state attempts to destroy graves as an effort to "conceal or erase data that could serve as potential evidence to avoid legal accountability" for its actions. In 2024, Iran International reported that the regime had begun destroying the gravesites of some protesters killed during January protests. Some graves at Tehran's Behesht Zahra were reportedly leveled and covered with cement, and inscriptions on graves were reportedly changed.

In 2020, the resting site of executed wrestler Navid Afkari was destroyed. Thousands of graves of individuals killed during the 1979 Islamic Revolution were paved over to construct a parking lot at Behesht-e Zahra.