The Hana Human Rights Organization has learned that around fifteen days ago, a 38-year-old woman identified as Shahla Karimani, daughter of Rahman and a native of Mahabad, was brutally strangled—reportedly with a scarf—by her husband and brother-in-law.
According to information received by Hana, Shahla Karimani, the mother of two children, suddenly went missing. Eventually, her lifeless body was discovered by her family. Based on available reports, both her husband and his brother confessed to the murder.
After committing this heinous act, the perpetrators secretly buried her body in the cemetery of Bafrowan village, located in the Shahviran district of Mahabad. The remains were uncovered on Thursday, October 2, 2025.
Preliminary investigations indicate that in addition to Shahla’s husband and brother-in-law, another individual was also involved in the crime. However, the two main suspects, upon arrest, quickly confessed and claimed that they killed her under the pretext of so-called “honor issues.”
The Hana Human Rights Organization strongly condemns this killing and emphasizes that one of the main causes of femicide in Iran is the absence of effective protective laws for women. In the civil and family codes of the Islamic Republic, women lack recognition as independent legal persons. Instead, religiously-based laws grant men—including fathers and husbands—authority over women’s physical and psychological integrity. Such legal provisions perpetuate violence against women and even allow men in the family to take their lives with impunity.