Kobra Sheikh-Sagha

Kobra Sheikh-Sagha (August 3, 1963 – November 5, 2022)

Kobra Sheikh-Sagha, known to many as “Daye Kobra,” was born on August 3, 1963, in the village of Di-Mala in Kurdistan. She was a hardworking and compassionate woman who carried the weight of life from a very young age. At only thirteen years old, she was married, and by the age of eighteen she had become the mother of three children. For years, she worked alongside her husband in farming and livestock raising, enduring hardship with quiet strength. Those who knew her remembered her constant smile, her kindness, and the warmth she brought to her family and grandchildren. Her lullabies for her grandchildren, filled with tenderness and sorrow, remained unforgettable to those around her.
In September 2022, following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police, protests spread across Iran under the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom.” Mahabad became one of the major centers of resistance. Daye Kobra closely followed the events and was deeply affected by the killing of young protesters. According to relatives, she often said that dying in the path of freedom and dignity was an honorable fate.
On November 4 and 5, 2022, Mahabad witnessed some of the bloodiest days of the uprising. After the killing of Ismail Moloudi, known as Semko, thousands gathered to attend his funeral procession. The city was overwhelmed by protests and violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces. Kobra’s home, located on Kargar Street, stood in the heart of the confrontation.
Daye Kobra was not merely watching events unfold. She actively supported the protesters from her home. She repeatedly brought masks and scarves outside so young demonstrators could cover their faces and avoid identification. She gathered stones for protesters to defend themselves against the armed security forces. She chanted slogans alongside the people and confronted security officers at dangerously close range. Her youngest son repeatedly tried to pull her back inside the house, but she refused to stay indoors while young people in her city were being shot in the streets.
Around midday on November 5, 2022, security forces opened heavy fire on Kargar Street. Standing near the entrance of her home, Daye Kobra was struck in the neck by a live bullet. The bullet tore through her body and hit the door behind her. Bleeding heavily, she collapsed into the arms of her son. He desperately tried to stop the bleeding with her scarf, believing the wound might still be survivable, but the injury was fatal.
Her family rushed her to the hospital, but she had already died. Her body was later transported home in the back of a pickup truck. During the journey, her husband, Vahed Soltani, stood beside her body and shouted anti-government slogans. Even then, security forces reportedly attacked the vehicle carrying her body, firing shotgun pellets at the mourners and the vehicle itself.
On November 5, 2022, thousands of people gathered for Daye Kobra’s funeral at Bagh-e Ferdows Cemetery in Mahabad. The funeral quickly became another large anti-government demonstration. Protesters chanted slogans such as “Death to the Dictator,” “Woman, Life, Freedom,” and “Martyrs Never Die.” Security forces attacked mourners with tear gas and pellet guns, injuring many attendees. Witnesses later recalled scenes of young protesters kneeling before armed officers, begging them to allow the burial ceremony to continue peacefully.
After her death, pressure on her family intensified. Security officials and local authorities repeatedly contacted her husband, demanding that he publicly state that unidentified individuals—not government forces—had killed his wife. They also pressured him to register her as a “martyr of the Islamic Republic.” Vahed Soltani refused. He insisted that he had personally witnessed armed government forces firing directly toward their home and neighborhood.
The death of Kobra Sheikh-Sagha was not seen merely as the killing of a 59-year-old woman. For many people in Mahabad and across Iran, Daye Kobra became a symbol of motherhood, courage, and resistance—a mother who stood beside the younger generation until her final moments and who gave her life in the struggle for freedom.