LONDON: Security forces in Iran killed a man in September after he tore down a poster of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the city of Amol, BBC Persian reported on Monday.

Erfan Rezaei, 21, was shot in the shoulder and back by a pistol at close range during protests.

A source said his family was under pressure to say he had been killed by protesters.

Not long after the protest, Rezaei’s mother, Farzaneh Barzekar, was told by officials that he had been admitted to hospital.

Hospital nurses refused to tell her where Rezaei was, but after three hours of trying to find him, Barzekar found his blood-soaked clothes outside an operating theater and fainted.

Rezaei died as a result of severe damage to his kidney and spleen caused by the bullet wound to his back. The bullet was fired by a pistol from a distance of 5 meters, the BBC reported.

His body was given to his family on the condition that they held a quiet funeral, which reportedly was only allowed because Rezaei’s father was a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, and Iranians revere those who fought in the 1980-88 conflict.

“Every day, I look at your picture for hours and cry. I look at your empty bed and your books. I read your books out loud to your empty bed,” Rezaei’s mother posted on Instagram two weeks ago, underneath a video of his grave.

Anti-government protests were sparked across the country following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by the Iranian morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab “improperly.”

Wednesday will mark 40 days since Amini’s death and the end of the traditional mourning period in Iran.