A 16-year-old girl has been killed by Iranian security forces who beat her to death with batons during the ongoing protests rocking the country.

Mahak Hashemi is said to have been killed in Shiraz, the capital of Fars province in south-central Iran, on Thursday, 24th November, according to local media.

Her family even reportedly had to pay bribes to get her body back and have been put under pressure not to speak up about the death of their loved one.

An unnamed eyewitness reportedly said one side of Mahak’s head had been brutally beaten and half of her face was covered in bruises.

She was reportedly buried on Saturday, 26th November.

Iranian forces have been cracking down on waves of civil disorder following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, who was on a visit to Tehran when she was arrested by morality police, accused of violating hijab rules on 13th September.

She was allegedly beaten while in custody and spent the following days in a coma in the hospital before succumbing in the ICU on 16th September.

The clinic where she was treated said in a now-deleted social media post that she had been admitted brain-dead.

Alleged medical scans of her skull leaked by hackers showed that she had suffered bone fractures, haemorrhages, and brain oedema.

Independent Iranian media have claimed that Mahsa’s medical records showing her history of heart disease were faked by the Iranian government.

Numbers differ regarding how many people have been killed since the protests began.

The ongoing protests in Iran have killed at least 419 people, including 51 children, and injured at least 1,160, according to independent estimates.

It is also understood that more than 17,500 people have been arrested so far.