Shocking! Iran Hangs ‘Child Bride’ For Murdering Husband

In a shocking incident in the Islamic Republic of Iran, an Iranian woman was executed on Wednesday despite calls from human rights groups for leniency.

The Iranian woman was forced into marriage as a child. She was held in an Iranian prison for murdering her husband. On Wednesday, she was hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison. 

Samira Sabzian was forced into marriage when she was 15. She was a victim of gender apartheid, child marriage, and domestic violence. She killed her husband because she was suffering from domestic violence. When she was arrested, she had two young children – including a newborn baby. She did not see them for 10 years. 

What happened to Samira Sabzian?

Samira Sabzian had been in prison for 10 years. She was executed on Wednesday in Ghezel Hesar Prison, according to the Norwegian-based group, Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO).

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, a Norwegian-Iranian neuroscientist and human rights advocate, said that Samira Sabzian was a victim of “gender apartheid.” Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam condemned the Iranian authorities for killing the woman.

He said, “She fell victim to the incompetent and corrupt regime’s killing machine. A regime that has sustained itself solely through killing and instilling fear.”

Her two children came to the prison to say her goodbye before her execution. She was executed at dawn in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj, the fourth-largest city in Iran and is near the capital, Tehran. 

She was just 19 years old when she was arrested. Various rights groups raised alarm over her execution. 

Tariq Mahmood Ahmad, the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations of the United Kingdom, said, “Samira is a victim of child marriage… Iran must cease its appalling treatment of women and girls.”

Crime against women in Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the world’s leading executioners of women. Crime against women is rampant in Iran. However, Iranian authorities have repeatedly denied all the claims. 

Iranian women have no right to divorce, even in cases of domestic violence and abuse. Iranian law also considers the husband the head of the household. No one can take any action against the husband. 

Reportedly, 18 women have now been executed in Iran this year, including Samira Sabzian. Amnesty International said that Iran was implementing a “horrific state-sanctioned killing spree.”

Iran is one of the seven countries that have not signed a 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. 

Iranian women have been enduring domestic violence, sexual violence and high unemployment. In October, Armita Geravand, an Iranian teen, was brain dead after an alleged assault on the Tehran metro by female police officers. Iran’s morality police assaulted her because she was not wearing a hijab.

Last year, women protested against the Iranian government and the morality police over the untimely death of Mahsa Amini. She was arrested by the morality police for wearing a loose hijab.