Sanandaj – Anila Saeedi, a 9-year-old girl from Asuwleh village, a suburb of Sanandaj, has been subjected to horrific torture and abuse by her stepmother.
According to information obtained by Hana, Anila’s abuse was uncovered after she was absent from school for 14 consecutive days, prompting school staff to investigate. Her father, who worked as a street vendor in Sanandaj, was rarely home. Anila’s older brother, Arshia, although present in the house, was too terrified of their stepmother’s punishments to speak out about the mistreatment of his sister. Taking advantage of this situation, the stepmother subjected Anila to the worst and most inhumane treatment.
Following Anila’s prolonged unexplained absence, school officials pursued the matter and discovered that she was being abused by her stepmother. It was later revealed that Anila’s father and close relatives were also aware of her critical condition and the inhumane treatment she was enduring but failed to take any action to protect her.
According to Hana’s investigation, Anila’s father only filed a complaint against his wife (Anila’s stepmother) after persistent pressure from relatives. Despite the severity of her crimes, the stepmother was released on bail under the pretext that she had recently given birth.
Available statistics indicate that, due to the absence of effective child protection mechanisms within Iran’s legal system, child abuse and mistreatment—especially in marginalized areas—are on the rise. Many children, out of fear and the lack of independent child protection organizations in Iran, are unable to speak out about the abuse they suffer, particularly at the hands of their parents or close relatives.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, despite its international legal obligations—especially under the Convention on the Rights of the Child—has failed to implement adequate legislative and judicial measures to protect children’s dignity, physical and mental well-being, and to uphold the fundamental principle of the child’s best interests. Iranian laws, influenced by classical Islamic jurisprudence, relegate child-rearing and related matters to the private domain, limiting state intervention and leaving children vulnerable to abuse.
The Hana Human Rights Organization strongly condemns the torture and abuse of Anila Saeedi and calls on all human rights organizations to pay special attention to the critical situation of children’s rights in Iran.