Rs 3 lakh for each body of protestors: Iran charges 'bullet fee' to families. 5 points

Protestors believe that the real death toll could be close to 10,000. (Image credit: PTI)

At a time when the death toll of a violent crackdown on widespread anti-government protests in Iran has crossed 2,500, authorities have begun to charge families of deceased protestors 500 million Tomans (nearly Rs 3 lakh) to return the bodies. Iranian protestors have named these payments "bullet fees," the New York Post reported.

Here are five things to know about the "bullet fees":

1) News of the new fee spread after a Tehran-based woman told the publication that a close friend was killed while trying to shield his wife. The woman, whose name was not revealed for safety concerns, said that the wife had seen a green laser light on herself. Before she realised what had happened, her husband jumped in front of her and was shot in the face.

2) Later, officials recorded the man's cause of death as an injury from a sharp object, and demanded Rs 3 lakh from the wife to release the body.

3) "Like so many of the dead, the regime is now charging families 'bullet fees' before they will return the bodies," the woman told the New York Post and added that her friend's family paid the money. "They buried him today," she added.

4) The devastated family, however, suffered another blow since the official cause of death remains “impact of a sharp object to the face” even after charging the bullet fee.

5) The Tehran woman believes that this move could eventually trigger the downfall of the current regime.

"Despite the police and the tear gas and pepper spray, people came out to the protest with their children. I saw pregnant women in the middle of protestors who were shouting for their rights," she told the publication. "Old men and women stood in the crowd too, shoulder to shoulder with the younger generation. People are suffering from the situation, no matter how old they are. And they want the same thing — regime change."