On Tuesday, September 2, 2025, in Maragheh, a 41-year-old man named Aziz killed his
wife, Somayeh Kioumarthi (38), and their two daughters, Sanaz Dolatkhaah (17) and
Maral Dolatkhaah (9), in their home in the Fowareli neighborhood, citing “honor” as his
motive. The perpetrator first stabbed his wife to death, then strangled his 17-year-old
daughter Sanaz and his 9-year-old daughter Maral, and later turned himself in to the
local police.
State-run media outlets, including Rokna, reported the tragedy using vague terms like
“family problems,” a phrase that neither reflects the reality of the crime nor holds the
perpetrators or the enabling structures accountable. Terms like “family problems” are
linguistic constructs designed to obscure male-perpetrated violence, implying a mutual
dispute or minor conflict, when in reality, three innocent lives were brutally ended by one
violent man.
Similarly, the frequently used term “family murder” conceals the political and structural
dimensions of such crimes. This phrase places the victim and the perpetrator on the
same level, suggesting that the “whole family” is destroyed, when the truth is starkly
different: women and children are the victims of patriarchy and a judicial system that
neither prevents these crimes nor imposes meaningful penalties, allowing violence to
continue.
Laws that give men control over women’s lives, media that obscure and downplay honor
killings as “family murders,” and a governing system that reproduces violence—all play
a direct and decisive role in perpetuating and normalizing these crimes.

#StopHonorKillingsCampaign

#Somayeh_Sanaz_Maral

#Maragheh

#SafetyForWomen

#WomenHaveTheRightToLive

#NoToViolenceAgainstWomen

#IslamicRepublicResponsibleForWomenKillings

#NoToMisogynistCulture

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Stop honor Killings Campaign