By:Rezvan Moghaddam

The horrific killing of a 30-year-old woman named Nahid in the Azadshahr neighborhood
of Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, on April 8, 2025, once again exposed the
devastating extent of domestic violence and so-called “honor” killings in Iran. In this
crime, a 42-year-old man first beheaded his wife, then jumped off the balcony of their
home to his death. While official media outlets like ISNA and Tabnak described the
crime vaguely as a “family dispute,” but social media tells a very different story.
On social networks, with disturbing detail, users reported that the man killed his wife out
of suspicion of infidelity—a killing that apparently took place in front of their 7-year-old
child.
The term “family dispute” has for years been used by state-affiliated media to mask the
structural roots of violence against women. This wording not only conceals the
gendered and honor-based nature of such killings, but also contributes to a cultural
context that enables their repetition. In reality, Iran’s patriarchal judicial, media, and
cultural systems—by ignoring gender-based violence and indirectly legitimizing it
through traditional concepts like “honor” and “zeal”—fuel the occurrence and recurrence
of such atrocities.
In this case, the killer reportedly wrote with lipstick on a mirror:
“Nahid had a relationship with the sewing machine repairman. I killed her.”
And on the bathroom door, he left another note:
“Because my wife had an illicit relationship with the repairman, I killed her. And
all of this is the fault of my father-in-law and mother-in-law!”

Similar Killings in Recent Years:
 Mona Heydari – A 17-year-old woman from Ahvaz who was beheaded by her
husband in February 2022; the killer paraded her severed head through the
streets. Motive: suspicion and honor-based control.
 Romina Ashrafi – A 13-year-old girl killed by her father with a sickle in May 2020
for having a relationship with a boy from another tribe.
 Sorayya Bayatloo – A 34-year-old woman killed in her sleep with a
sledgehammer by her husband in Tehran, April 2025. Motive: suspicion and
honor-based control.

Azita Fallahi – A 36-year-old woman in Kermanshah beaten severely by her
husband and father-in-law until she died. Initial attempts were made to hide the
killing by claiming it was a suicide.
Farzaneh Sepahi – A 38-year-old Baloch woman who was shot dead by her
brother and buried at night after returning to her father’s home seeking a divorce.
Elmira – A 32-year-old woman in Tehran who was stabbed to death by her
husband after requesting a divorce; her body was dumped in Shahriar.
The killing of the woman in Bandar Abbas is not a “personal incident” but part of a
broader social and cultural crisis. These crimes stem from a sense of male ownership
over women’s bodies and lives, and the absence of legal protections for women
against violence. While many countries have strict laws against domestic abuse and
honor killings, in Iran, the judiciary, through practices like pardoning fathers for killing
their children, reducing sentences for honor killings, and cultural justification of
“zeal,” continues to enable such tragedies.
One of the common tactics of law enforcement and state-affiliated media is the non-
disclosure of the names and identities of victims and perpetrators. This concealment is
part of a deliberate strategy to erase the victim from public memory and to prevent the
formation of justice-oriented discourse in society.
honor killings, especially those carried out in the presence of children, are not merely
individual tragedies they represent a profound societal failure. Until this cycle is broken
through legal reform, widespread education, and cultural change, the narrative of pain
will continue to repeat.

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