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Horror after footage shows beaming man roam streets with wife’s severed head after honor killing

The victim was just 12 years old when she married the man, who was also her cousin, and had a three-year-old son when she was murdered

Trigger Warning: Graphic Content

In the southern city of Ahvaz on Saturday, February 5, an unnamed Iranian man killed his 17-year-old wife Mona Heydari before carrying her severed head through the streets of the city. After attempting to depart the country, his wife was kidnapped and killed in an 'honor killing.'

After her family realized that she was having an affair, the young wife is said to have fled to Turkey. According to local media sources, her father and husband hunted her down in the country and brought her back to Iran this week. The victim was just 12 years old when she married the man, who was also her cousin, and had a three-year-old son when she was murdered.

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Authorities have charged the husband and his brother with murdering Mona in retaliation for her adultery and abandonment. However, the identities have not been released by the police yet. The man could be seen gloating in a viral video while holding a knife in one hand and what appeared to be his wife's decapitated head in the other. However, the video has now been taken down. According to the state-run IRAN newspaper, Iran's media watchdog shut down news website Rokna after it published the video footage.

In Iran, where the legal age for marriage is 13 and women are required to wear a head covering in accordance with Islamic law, the episode has surprised many people. The assassination sparked outrage and astonishment in Iranian publications and social media, with many calling for social and legal reforms.

The reformist daily, Sazandegi commented, "A human being was decapitated, her head was displayed on the streets and the killer was proud. How can we accept such a tragedy? We must act so that femicide does not happen again." In the reformist newspaper Shargh, lawyer Ali Mojtahedzadeh blamed 'legal loopholes' for 'paving the way for honor killings.'

Elham Nadaf, a fellow member of parliament, told the ILNA news agency: "Unfortunately, we are witnessing such incidents because there are no concrete measures to ensure the implementation of laws to prevent violence against women."

The two 'defendants confessed to the murder during the police investigation and were introduced to the judicial authority,' said police officer Col Sohrab Hosseinnejad, quoted by the semi-official news agency ILNA. However, the police did not comment on the homicide or who filmed the graphic footage showing the husband carrying his wife's skull.

According to local media, Mona's death was thought to be an 'honor killing,' which refers to the killing of a relative who is thought to have caused the family dishonor. Only 'blood owners,' or immediate family members, are authorized to demand execution for the murder of a relative, according to Sharia law. Because families are less likely to demand the death penalty for another family member, most honor killings go unpunished.