Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 6, 2024: Akhtar Ghorbanlu, a child bride on death row for murder, was executed in Ahar Prison
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a woman was executed in Ahar Prison in East Azerbaijan province on 1st October. Her identity has been established as Akhtar Ghorbanlu who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Akhtar Ghorbanlu was forced to marry a rich man who was 18 years her senior when she was 17 years old by her family. She didn’t want to marry him but they forced her. She was accused of killing him with pills.”
At the time of writing, her execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Iran is the biggest executioner of women. In 2023, at least 22 women were executed for drug-related, murder and security-related charges in Iran. Akhtar Ghorbanlu is 18th woman to be executed in 2024.
Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness. Crucially, while an indicative amount is set by the Judiciary every year, there is no legal limit to how much can be demanded by families of the victims. IHRNGO has recorded many cases where defendants are executed because they cannot afford to pay the blood money.
In 2023, at least 282 people including two juvenile offenders and 15 women, were executed for murder charges, the second highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 20% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2023, Iran Human Rights also recorded 857 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.