Shahla Mohammadi: A young woman whose name has not been published in the media
died under suspicious circumstances on April 15, 2023 at a private chemical distribution
company in Tehran. The forensic report initially cited cyanide poisoning as the cause of
death and classified it as a suicide. However, the death was not a suicide; it was later
revealed that the husband had killed his wife to marry his lover, fabricating a false
suicide scenario.
The young woman’s father described his daughter to the police as a strong woman who
could not have committed suicide. The family’s trust in her character and timely
insistence on further investigation compelled the police to examine the case more
deeply—a case that might otherwise have been closed without identifying the killer.
In his complaint, the father emphasized that his daughter was not only the CEO of a
company and a strong woman, but also a mother—someone who would never have
contemplated suicide.
Her father had also revealed that his son-in-law was having an affair with one of the
company’s employees, which had caused disputes between his daughter and her
husband. These disputes had led to a request for divorce, but apparently the young
woman, because of having a child, did not accept it. This is the same reason that keeps
many women trapped in cycles of domestic violence: in order to protect their children,
they give up their right to divorce. Under patriarchal laws, custody is most often granted
to the father, depriving women of motherhood. In addition, after divorce, women face
thousands of social stigmas.
After further investigation, police discovered that the young man had killed his wife at
her workplace by forcing her to ingest cyanide, staging the crime as a suicide. He had
planned to marry a former company employee after killing his wife, claiming that he was
“tired of life with her.”
This claim of being “tired of married life” reflects the reality of patriarchal societies,
where women are condemned to the rule of “going to the husband’s house in a white
dress and leaving only in a shroud.” In other words, women have no right to choose
divorce under any circumstances. If they seek divorce, not only must they spend years
navigating the corridors of courts, but they also lose custody of their children and face
countless social stigmas after separation.

Most importantly in this case, the man had been in a relationship with one of the
company’s employees. His wife’s response, having that employee dismissed, was met
with hostility. Yet, under the laws of the Islamic Republic’s patriarchal system, if a man
suspects his wife of an extramarital relationship, he can legally kill her. Indeed, most so-
called “honor killings” in Iran occur under this pretext. After such murders, men often
escape punishment, and in colloquial terms, they are even described as being
“honorable” and “defenders of their family’s honor.”
Most importantly, the way this case was reported by media outlets of the Islamic
Republic reveals the depth of structural bias. In such cases, when the accused is a
woman, state-affiliated media often label her as “unfaithful,” “jealous,” and similar
terms—headlines repeatedly seen in outlets such as Etemad. Yet in this report, the true
cause of the crime, namely, the husband’s infidelity, was mentioned only at the very
end, buried in the margins.
In the Etemad article, the entire killing scenario was laid out in detail, in such a way that
any reader, criminal or not, could potentially replicate it. Publishing the precise method
of a murder, especially in cases where perpetrators are likely to escape punishment and
where police face difficulties in uncovering the truth, shows a disregard for the ethical
responsibilities of journalism.
This pattern is common: in most reports of femicide, Iranian state-controlled media
provide explicit details of the killing methods while disregarding journalistic duty to
protect society. This practice not only normalizes but actively promotes femicide and
“honor killings,” while the law itself fails to take any meaningful preventative action.

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