Child Bride Soheila Abedi at Imminent Risk of Execution in Sanandaj

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, 32-year-old Soheila Abedi who is currently held at the women’s ward of Sanandaj Central Prison was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) by Branch One of the Sanandaj Criminal Court for the murder of her husband on 26 January 2015 due to “family disputes.”

According to informed sources, Soheila had committed murder ten years after being married at the age of 15.

“Her case was sent for implementation after her sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. Her husband’s family are not willing to forgo their right to retribution and want the sentence to be carried out as soon as possible. They’ve told Ms Abedi that she’ll be executed in the next month if she can’t gain their forgiveness,” sources told Iran Human Rights.

According to Iran Human Rights’ recent report on Women and Death Penalty in Iran on the occasion of World Day Against the Death Penalty, at least 164 women were executed between 2010-October 2021. Of those, six were child brides and one woman (Safieh Ghafouri), was an aroose-khoon-bas, a bride offered by one tribe to the opposing tribe to stop the bloodshed.

Within the marriage itself, a woman does not have the right to divorce, even in cases of domestic violence and abuse, which are hidden in cultural codes and language. In 66% of the known murder cases, the women were convicted of killing their husband or partner.

Soheil Abedi’s court documents are held by Iran Human Rights: