This is the shocking moment a grinning Iranian man holds the decapitated head of his teenage wife in one hand and a large blade in the other after allegedly taking part in an ‘honour killing’ with his brother.
The macabre scene was filmed in the neighbourhood of Khashayar in the city of Ahvaz in the south-western Iranian province of Khuzestan on 5th February.
The victim has been identified as Mona Heydari, 17, the mother of a three-year-old son.
The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said the victim was forced to marry her cousin Sajjad Heydari when she was just 12 years old.
The young girl allegedly suffered domestic violence, and every time she expressed a desire to divorce him, her family pressured her to return home for the sake of their child.
At one point, Mona reportedly fled to Turkey to escape her partner’s violence, but returned after finding it difficult to live alone in a strange country.
According to reports, Mona had been in Iran for a few days when Sajjad and his brother reportedly tied her hands and feet and decapitated her.
Local media said the brother wrapped the girl’s body in a blanket and dumped it in one area while the husband walked along the street with his wife’s head in one hand and a large blade in the other.
In the video, the suspect is seen grinning from ear to ear as he holds the teenager’s head and is confronted by local residents.
The chief of the State Security Force (SSF) said the motive for the killing was “family differences”.
Meanwhile, the state-run news site Rokna was reportedly shut down for publishing the story and the footage at the time of the incident.
The NCRI’s Women’s Committee said: “Not a week goes by without some form of honour killing making headlines. The clerical regime’s failure to criminalise these murders has led to a catastrophic rise in honour killings.
“In a report published in 2019, the state-run Sharq daily newspaper wrote that an annual average of 375 to 450 honour killings are recorded in Iran. The murders are more prevalent in Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Ilam, and Sistan and Baluchestan.
“Some women’s rights activists believe that honour killings in Iran are officially justified as ‘family differences’.
“The catastrophic rise in honour killings in Iran is rooted in misogyny and the patriarchal culture institutionalised in the laws and society. Although the father, brother, or husband holds the knife, sickle, or rifle, the murders are rooted in the medieval outlook of the ruling regime. The clerical regime’s laws officially denote that women are second-degree citizens owned by men.”
The suspect and his brother were reportedly arrested after the alleged killing. However, it is unclear what punishment they are likely to face.
