CNN
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Iranian man beheaded wife of 17 years In February 2022, he was sentenced to just eight years and two months in prison on Wednesday, sparking criticism over the leniency of his sentence, according to the country’s semi-official Khabar Online website.
IRNA reports that after a teenage girl was murdered, a video circulated online showing her husband, Sajjad Heydari, smiling and holding his severed head as he walked through the state capital, Ahvaz. started.
Local authorities have confirmed that the widely shared image purporting to be Heidari is from the same incident, a source with knowledge of the statement told CNN. A video seen by CNN showed Heydari holding a knife in one hand and the girl’s head in the other.
The short sentence has been criticized by critics, with some pointing to female filmmaker Mozghan Ilanlo, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for removing her headscarf.
Responding to questions about the verdict, a spokesman for Iran’s Attorney General Massoud Setayesh said the husband was “convicted of intentional murder, intentional assault and disorderly conduct.” A second defendant, a brother-in-law, was “convicted of being an assistant to a deliberate murder.”
A judicial spokesman said the death penalty was not issued because the victim’s family forgave the defendant. Being eligible led to the issuance of a cease and desist order, but the public side of the crime remains,” he said.
‗Therefore, on the official side of the crime, the first-line defendant was sentenced to seven and a half years’ imprisonment for the administration of intentional murder, and eight years’ imprisonment on the public side of the crime. sentenced to several months in prison,” the judicial spokesperson added.
The spokesperson also said, “The second-row defendant (the victim’s brother-in-law) was also sentenced to 45 months in prison for aiding the intentional murder.”
When the article was first published, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) called the alleged murder a so-called “honor killing”.
The victim fled to Turkey four months before her father persuaded her to return to Iran, according to an interview with the girl’s mother-in-law. Dating back to 2022.
According to IRNA, the girl was 12 when she married Heydari.
In a 2022 interview with the girl’s father published in Fars, he was quoted as saying that he had obtained a legal certificate authorizing his daughter to marry. The girl is 13 years old and the boy is 15 years old. CNN has not been able to confirm the husband’s age.
This crime comes years after another high-profile “honor killing.” In the incident, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly killed by her father with a scythe after fleeing her parental home in Taresh district of northern Iran with her 29-year-old child. age man.
For years, women’s rights activists in Iran have campaigned for stronger domestic violence laws in the country.
This comes after the country has been rocked by nationwide protests over the death in custody of Masa Amini, a young woman accused of ignoring the country’s mandatory hijab law. Iran has stepped up its crackdown by executing protesters accused of killing security forces, a result of a hasty sham trial, critics say.
