Another draconian act of honor killing was committed in Iran when a man crossed all the limits of brutality. A video of a guy walking around the streets of Iran with his wife’s decapitated head went viral. As soon as the video went viral it shocked the country’s citizens.
According to sources, Mona Heidari, 17, was killed by her husband and brother-in-law on Saturday in the southern city of Ahvaz, on suspicion of infidelity, according to her family. By Iranian media, the victim was just 12 years old when she was married and had a 3-year-old son at the time of her death.
According to Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, the two individuals were apprehended “during a search on their hiding” by police personnel. The woman’s husband and his brother are the two main suspects of the case who have been arrested.
Reportedly, the woman, Mona, fled to Turkey a few days ago. People are doubting that she fled with someone or escaped from her draconian husband. After fleeing from her home, she was brought back by her husband.
Mad on her for fleeing and infidelity, her husband conspired with her brother to commit the heinous act. The brother tied her hands and feet seconds before decapitating her head. After that, he wrapped her body into a blanket and dumped into some isolated area.
Another prime suspect, Mona’s husband, Sajjad Heyadari held her decapitated head in one hand and knife in the other and marched all around the streets. He somehow wanted to claim his power.
Several people were haunted by the act and many took videos of the same. In the videos that went viral Heyadari can be seen carrying a wide smile all over his face. Meanwhile, the state-run news website Rokna was shut down for releasing the narrative as well as the video footage at the time of the incident, according to reports.
Massive criticisms were also drawn by several authorities criticizing the act. ‘It seems like hardly a week goes by without some type of honor killing hitting the news.’ The statement was made by the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The failure of the ecclesiastical rule to criminalize these murders has resulted in a precipitous increase in the number of honor killings.
Iran has subsequently seen several cases of honor killings in recent times. Most of these cases were against the women of the country. As reported in the state-run Sharq daily newspaper in 2019, an annual average of between 375 and 450 honor killings are reported in Iran every year.
Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Ilam, Sistan, and Baluchestan are the regions where the murders are most common. The reason behind the same could be the lack of proper law against honor killing. Hence it is still not clear on what charges, Sajjad and Mona’s brother will be convicted.
The shocking occurrence prompted Ensieh Khazali, Iran’s vice president for women’s affairs, to urge the parliament to adopt “immediate measures” and authorities to increase awareness.