A real general indignation! Police in northern Iran have arrested a man accused of murdering his 14-year-old daughter in an "honor killing".
Romina Ashrafi's face is the symbol of an unnamed atrocity. The story begins with the young girl who ran away from her home in Gilan province with her 35-year-old boyfriend after her father opposed their marriage, it says. on BBC.com.
Shortly after, the couple were found by the police and Romina was sent back home, although she admitted she feared for her life.
Last Thursday evening, she was allegedly attacked by her father in her bedroom. The news agency Gilkhabar.ir reported that Romina had been "decapitated" with a sickle, and that her father then left the house "with the sickle in hand and confessed everything".
Following the murder, several national newspapers featured on the front page of Romina's story. "An uncertain paternal home," headlined pro-reform media, Ebtekar, which lamented the failure of existing legislation to protect women and girls.
On Twitter, the Persian hashtag #Romina_Ashrafi has been used more than 50,000 times. Most users condemn the murder and the patriarchal nature of Iranian society in general.
Shahindokht Molaverdi, former Vice President for Women and Family Affairs and current secretary of the Iranian Society for the Protection of Women's Rights, wrote: "Romina is neither the first nor the last victim of honor killings" .
She added that such murders would continue "until the law and the dominant cultures in local and global communities are sufficiently dissuasive".
The BBC recalls that the Iranian Islamic Penal Code reduces punitive measures for fathers and other family members who are convicted of murder or of physically injuring children in the context of domestic violence or "honor killings".
If a man is found guilty of the murder of his daughter, the penalty is between three and ten years in prison, instead of the normal death penalty or the payment of "diyeh" (price of blood) for murder cases.
There are no statistics on the prevalence of "honor killings" in Iran, but human rights activists reported last year that they continue to occur, especially among rural and tribal, according to the United States Department of State.