An Iranian man who beheaded his 17-year-old wife has been jailed for only eight years and two months.
Mona Heydari was beheaded by her husband, Sajjad Heydari, in Khuzestan province in February 2022 for “dishonoring” her family.
Heydari was reportedly 12 years old when she was married off to her cousin, with whom she shared a three-year-old son.
Although the legal age for marriage in Iran is 13 for girls, Heydari’s father had obtained a legal certificate that allowed his daughter to get married.
Heydari had fled to Turkey four months earlier to escape domestic violence but was brought back home by her father, according to local media.
She was killed on Saturday Feb. 5 soon after her return.
A video published online showed Sajjad Heydari smiling and parading the streets of Ahvaz with a knife in one hand and his wife’s severed head in the other.
A court spokesperson said it had not issued the death penalty because the family of the victim had forgiven the man.
The light sentence has sparked widespread outrage and condemnation.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) called the teen’s murder an “honor killing.”
Heydari’s murder had reignited concerns over Iran’s laws around child marriage and domestic violence.
IRNA reported that the vice president for Iran’s Women’s and Family Affairs minister tweeted that in response to the incident, the government has pushed forward a review of a draft law to protect women against violence.
While Iranian women’s rights activists have been drafting a law to prevent violence against women and prosecute their abusers, Human Rights Watch said the law still falls short of international standards, as it “does not criminalize some forms of gender-based violence, such as marital rape and child marriage.”
