Maid’s Death Sparks Riots in Tehran

The Kurdish population in Iran’s capital has sparked massive riots following the unexplained death of Farinaz Khosravani, a chambermaid at the Tara, Tehran’s only four-star hotel. On Monday, the 25-year-old woman mysteriously fell from a fourth-floor hotel window, causing protesters to suspect foul play. They apparently set fire to the Tara after reading Internet reports that Khosravani was “trying to escape an Iranian official who was threatening to rape her,” according to The New York Times. Police used tear gas to disburse a crowd of hundreds outside the hotel. Iranian government spokesmen claim that “no official was involved.”