License to Kill? Iranian Child Bride's Beheading Sparks Outrage Over Country's Honor Killing Culture
A shocking video of a man walking around the streets of Iran with his wife's severed head is shedding light on women's rights and throwing the country back under international scrutiny for its honor killings.
In a video posted online, Sajjad Heydari is seen grinning as he parades the severed head of his 17-year-old wife, Mona Heydari, in the streets of Ahvaz, last week.
Honor killings are prevalent in some parts of Iran due to societal beliefs and light sentencing for those committing the murderous act, Iran International reports. Women are often killed by a male relative on the grounds they dishonored their family, which could include eloping, committing adultery, requesting a divorce, or even unfounded accusations of shaming the family's name.
According to the Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mona was Sajjad's cousin and was forced to marry him at the age of 12. Mona reportedly suffered domestic violence in the marriage and despite requesting a divorce, was pressured to stay because of their three-year-old son.
Months before the killings, the teenager reportedly fled to Turkey but found it difficult to live on her own. Her family promised she would be safe if she returned home.
A few days later, Sajjad and his brother beheaded her. Her body was dumped before her husband paraded around the streets with her head.
Globally, violence against women is considered a human rights violation. However, Iran's protections for its female citizens are essentially non-existent.
"Under the clerical regime's laws, [law enforcement officials] are not allowed to enter anyone's house when a case of domestic violence against women is reported," according to a report by the Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
"The Iranian regime's laws are not decisive in punishing the murderer," it continues. "Usually, because the law considers the father the owner of his child's blood, he does not receive a proportionate punishment for murdering his daughter. The Iranian laws give a license to kill, as evident in the murder of Romina Ashrafi in May 2020 and now in the murder of Mona Heydari."
According to published reports, there was an average of 375 to 400 honor killings in Iran in 2019.
Mona's death has sparked national outrage with many Iranians demanding social and legal reforms.
Iran's vice president for women's affairs, Ensieh Khazali, called on parliament to take more urgent measures to protect women.
Hadi Ghaemi serves as the executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. He said Iranian authorities are "as responsible for Heydari's death as her murderers."
The beheaded child bride #MonaHeidari might be alive today if #Iran's government had enacted laws against the cruel practice of child marriage, and protections against domestic violence.
— Hadi Ghaemi (@hadighaemi) February 7, 2022
Iran's government is as responsible for her death as her murderers.#مونا_حیدری#کودک_همسری https://t.co/ETCkW8f38M
"The beheaded child bride might be alive today if Iran's government had enacted laws against the cruel practice of child marriage and protections against domestic violence," Ghaemi said on Twitter.
"A human being was decapitated, her head was displayed on the streets and the killer was proud," wrote Sazandegi, an Iranian daily newspaper. "How can we accept such a tragedy? We must act so that femicide does not happen again."
"Mona was a victim of devastating ignorance. We are all responsible for this crime," wrote feminist filmmaker Tahmineh Milani on Instagram.
A police official said the motive for Mona's killing was "family differences".
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