Iran: Young man parades with the head of his 17-year-old wife in Kasai Square in Ahwaz

Mona Heidari
Born: 2005
Beheaded: 5 February 2022
Residence: Ahwaz (Khuzestan province)
Origin: Iran
Children: She was a mother
Perpetrators: her husband and his brother

On Saturday, February 5, a young man in Ahwaz, a city in Iran's Khuzestan province, marched through the neighborhood with his 17-year-old wife's head in his hand after beheading her. After parading in Kasai Square for a few minutes, he fled. The victim had previously fled to Turkey, but was forced to return by her husband. Mona was married off at 12 and was a mother.

According to reports, the man committed the murder of his wife with the help of his brother who held her legs while he beheaded her. A video of the beheading was circulated on social media.

Honor killings are never severely punished in Iran because the laws are based on Sharia law. Human rights activists do not expect the perpetrators to spend more than 15 years behind bars for committing this brutal murder, if they are prosecuted by the authorities at all because most perpetrators of honor killings are not even presented before Iranian judges. We look forward to hearing your tips!

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:

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.