Honor killing in Mashhad, Iran: 17-year-old kills his sister

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Sajdeh
Age: 23
Suffocated : April 25, 2024
Residence: Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan
Origin: Iran
Children: -
Perpetrator: Brother
On Thursday, April 25, 2024, a young woman named Sajedeh, from the village of Koor Deh in a suburb of Mashhad, was murdered by her brother. The motive behind the murder of the 23-year-old divorced woman was revealed when she was on the autopsy bed.

According to local sources, Thursday morning, the body of a young woman was placed on the autopsy bed, which was transferred from Taleghani Hospital to the Mashhad Medical Examiner's Office to determine the cause of death.

Although there were no signs of foul play on the body, and it was possible that the 23-year-old woman had died before being transferred to the hospital, her family insisted on delivering the body for burial as soon as they claimed that she died of natural causes. In the meantime, Dr. Rezazadeh (the head of the forensic autopsy room), who had suspected the death of this young woman, entered the autopsy room for more detailed investigations.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor, who did not doubt that a crime had occurred due to the insistence of "Sajdeh's" father to hand over the body, in a confidential order asked the detectives to monitor Sajdeh's father carefully. These judicial measures started when Colonel Wali Najafi (head of the homicide department and supervisor of the detective group) proposed the hypothesis that the crime took place in a rural stable and pointed to the presence of a small straw and a particle of waste.

Sajdeh's father was subjected to a barrage of specialized questions in a secluded corner of the forensic building, and suddenly he revealed that the horrible murder was committed by his 17-year-old son. He said: My daughter divorced her husband some time ago, but people's gossip and their slander about my daughter's behavior did not end, so even my son's friends blamed him for his sister's behavior. Because of this, my son, whose name is Hanzaleh, got angry and killed his sister in the stable of the villa where we are the caretakers, although I did not know about the incident, only my son called me and informed me of his sister's death. I rushed to the stable and because there was nothing I could do, I took her lifeless body to the hospital, but because I was afraid that this story would be revealed, I hid my daughter's murder.

Following the confession of Sajdeh's father, a group of detectives, under the direct guidance of the head of the Mashhad homicide department, went to Kordeh village on the side of the Mashhad-Chenaran Asian road and arrested Hanzaleh while he was sitting next to the villa where the crime took place. And he was lost in his thoughts.

Hanzaleh confessed to the murder of his sister in the stables of the beautiful villa. He stated that he was insulted by some people due to his sister's unusual behavior. He said: When my sister entered the stable of the villa, I also went inside the stable and while wrapping my hand around her neck, I asked her about her unusual behavior. She gave some irrelevant answers, so I choked her to avoid notoriety and then I called my father.

What is an honour killing?

An honour killing is a murder in the name of honour. If a brother murders his sister to restore family honour, it is an honour killing. According to activists, the most common reasons for honour killings are as the victim:

Questions about honour killings

  • refuses to cooperate in an arranged marriage.

  • wants to end the relationship.

  • was the victim of rape or sexual assault.

  • was accused of having a sexual relationship outside of marriage.

Human rights activists believe that 100,000 honour killings are carried out every year, most of which are not reported to the authorities and some are even deliberately covered up by the authorities themselves, for example because the perpetrators are good friends with local policemen, officials or politicians. Violence against girls and women remains a serious problem in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Serbia and Turkey.

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