Murder of Mona Heydari

Murder of Mona Heydari
Date5 February 2022 (2022-02-05)
LocationAhvaz, Iran
TypeHonour killing
Target
  • Mona Heydari
PerpetratorSajjad Heydari
Participants2

Ghazal "Mona" Heydari (24 December 2004 – 5 February 2022) was an Iranian Arab teenage girl who was beheaded in Ahvaz, Iran in an honour killing by her husband. Mona and her husband were first cousins. Pictures and videos of her husband, Sajjad Heydari, smiling while carrying her head, caused widespread outrage in Iran.[1] In the aftermath of the beheading, her husband and her brother-in-law were arrested by Iranian police.[2]

Background

See also: Ages of consent in Asia § Iran

Mona Heydari was married to Sajjad Heydari, at the age of 12. She fled to Turkey to escape her husband's domestic abuse against her. She was brought back to Iran by her close relatives.[3]

She had a child, aged 3. She gave birth to her child when she was 14.[4]

Incident

She was beheaded by her husband and her brother-in-law in a house. Her body was dumped.[3]

Aftermath

Human Rights Watch condemned the murder, calling for reforming a draft law that would criminalize violence against women.[5]

Human rights activists in Iran made a petition on Daadkhast, an Iranian-based petition website, to stop killings in Iran. The petition gathered over 1,500 signatures.[6]

Perpetrator

The Iranian government shut down Rokna News Agency, an Iranian news website, for displaying an image of Sajjad Heydari holding a knife in one hand, and Mona's head in another. The reason for shutting down Rokna was given as "publishing images and issues that violate public decency".[7]

On 18 January 2023, Sajjad Heydari was sentenced to more than 8 years in prison for the decapitation of his wife, and the public display of her head. The charges include murder and assault, as told by judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi to reporters.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Salem, Mostafa; Mostaghim, Ramin (9 February 2022). "Iranian husband beheads teenage wife, authorities say, shocking the country". CNN. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  2. ^ مرد همسرکش در اهواز دستگیر شد/سر مقتول را بریده و در شهر چرخانده بودند [His wife's husband was arrested in Ahvaz / the victim was beheaded and driven around the city]. خبرگزاری ایلنا (in Persian). Iranian Labour News Agency. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b قتل ناموسی در ایران؛ نمایش زنی سر بریده در اهواز و تعطیلی خبرگزاری به دلیل انتشار تصاویر [Honour killing in Iran; A beheaded woman was shown in Ahvaz and the news agency was closed due to the publication of pictures]. BBC News فارسی (in Persian). BBC Persian. 6 February 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  4. ^ Gritten, David (18 January 2022). "Iranian man who beheaded 17-year-old wife jailed for eight years". BBC. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  5. ^ Ghazi, Maya (11 February 2022). "Gruesome Femicide in Iran". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  6. ^ Amini, Asieh. "Put An End to the Slaughter of Women!". Daadkhast. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Iranian news site shut down for publishing image of decapitated woman". The Times of Israel. Associated Press. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Iran man who decapitated teen wife and paraded her head in public gets an 8-year prison sentence". CBS News. 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.