ROME – An Iranian woman was found dead inside a car with her boyfriend in Secondigliano, Naples, police said. The Iranian moral police have refused to allow her family to repatriate her body on the basis that she was a “sinner.”

 Vida Shahvalad, 21, was studying in Caserta and living in Naples at the time of her death. She and her boyfriend, Vincenzo Nocerino, were found inside a parked car in a garage in Secondigliano.

 Investigators said the couple had returned from a party in Caserta on the night of March 16 and had remained in the car for some privacy, starting the engine to keep themselves warm. The engine released carbon monoxide which suffocated and killed the pair. Police ruled out the possibility of suicide, instead saying the situation was an unlucky tragedy.

 Iranian moral police refused Vida’s family’s request to repatriate her body on the basis she was found in a “semi-nude” state in a car with a man. On Iranian national TV, a reporter said the two “were about to have sexual intercourse” before they died, and labelled Vida as having “loose morals.”

 Nocerino’s father, Alfredo, spoke to Radio Marte, describing Vida “like a daughter” to him. He added that Vida and his son were “clothed” when they were found, and he said that “it is not fair that she has been smeared and vilified by the press in her country.” He appealed for Italians to help Vida’s family repatriate her body.

 During the same programme, the radio announcer, Gianni Simoli, and a member of the Chamber of Deputies, Francesco Emilio Borrelli both spoke out about Iran’s treatment of Vida and her family. They described Vida as “esteemed and valued” and said she “should have been a pride for her country.” They called on Iran to stop “tarnishing her memory” and also asked for the “leaks of unverified information” to end, labelling the leaks as “nothing more than gossip.”

 Borrelli has asked the Italian Foreign Ministry to support the new Italian female ambassador to Iran, Paola Amadei, in explaining the truth to the Iranian authorities.