A man was observed smiling as he paraded through the streets with the decapitated head of his teenage wife, whom he killed in an “honour killing”
Sajjad Heydari allegedly murdered his wife with the assistance of his brother, after which he was seen in a frightening video taken in Iran holding a knife in one hand and the head of his 17-year-old wife in the other.
The horrible incident was recorded in Ahvaz, the south-western province of Khuzestan, eliciting outrage from women’s rights groups.
Mona Heydari, a 17-year-old mother of a three-year-old son, was the victim.
According to the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the victim was compelled to marry Sajjad, her own cousin, when she was just 12 years old.
The young lady allegedly experienced domestic violence, and whenever she expressed her desire for a divorce, her relatives encouraged her to stay at home for the sake of the child.
Mona reportedly moved to Turkey in an attempt to escape her partner’s abuse but returned after finding it difficult to live alone in a foreign country.
According to reports, Mona had been back in Iran for a few days when Sajjad and his brother bound and decapitated her.
According to local media, the brothers covered Mona’s body in a blanket and disposed of it in one location, while her husband strolled along the street holding his wife’s head in one hand and a huge knife in the other.
The motive for the murder, according to the chief of the State Security Force (SSF), was “family differences”
“The catastrophic rise in honour killings in Iran is rooted in misogyny and the patriarchal culture institutionalised in the laws and society.
“Although the father, brother or husband holds the knife, sickle or rifle, the murders are rooted in the medieval outlook of the ruling regime.”
Following the alleged killing, the suspect and his brother were apprehended.
