Monthly report of honor killings in Iran: September 2021

Report: Awin Mostafazadeh

Translation: Rouhi Shafii

This report gives the number of women murdered by male family members. The report consists of 12 incidents of honor-based violence against women in various ways, including two homicides in the cities of Lahijan, Yazd, and Abadan and one murder in Tehran.

There are also 5 incidents of extortion and revenge to publish women’s personal photos in the cities of Kerman, Nowsharhr, Bushehr, Khorasan South, and Gilan. Two murders in order to possess a woman as personal property. Also one incident of Khun Bast ( offering a woman to the family whose member has been murdered in order to settle the dispute and prevent revenge).

Details of the 3 homicides:

1- On 28 September, in Abadan, a 38-year-old woman with a 32-year-old man was murdered by the woman’s brother. The murderer was detained.

2- 23 September in Yazd, a 27-year-old woman was murdered by her husband due to family disputes. The murderer was detained.

3- 18 September in Lahijan, a 70-year-old woman was murdered by her 42-year-old husband due to a family dispute. He buries her in their garden and went to the police after 10 days and detained him.

4- 7 September, in Tehran, the murder of Somayeh(34) by her husband in 2015 was made public and the husband was detained and charged with the honor-based killing of Somayeh. They had a daughter from the marriage. The husband was an addict.

Other reported threats and extortion of women have been registered in the same month. It must be said that such incidents are much more than what gets to the press and become public.

1- 20 September, a man was detained and charged with extortion by publishing a woman’s private photos from her personal Instagram page and using them to get money from her husband.

2- 6 September, a man was threatening a woman to publish her private photos he had obtained unlawfully in exchange for money. He was detained,

3- 23 September, a woman’s ex-husband published his ex-wife’s private photos along with foul language. The woman filed a complaint and the man was detained.

4- 28 September, to take revenge on a woman who had refused his marriage proposal, a man published the woman’s private photos in public areas.