Roya was born in Iran. In 1998 she emigrated to England. Since 2008, she has lived in Stockport, near Manchester, England. In 2013 Roya returned to Iran to visit her family. Two weeks after she arrived, she flew to the city of Shiraz and was arrested by cyber police at the airport. Roya's husband, Daryoush Taghipoor, found out his wife was in prison when he traveled to the Middle East to look for her.