According to local reports, on Saturday, October 17 (26 Mehr), Reyhaneh Darzadeh, a 23-year-old woman from the village of Shagim, near the city of Nikshahr in southeastern Iran, was murdered by her husband in their home.
The outlet Halvash reported that the perpetrator, identified by his initials (K.D.), strangled his wife to death after she refused to consent to his second marriage and declined to hand over her personal gold jewelry.
After committing the crime, the husband allegedly staged the scene to make it appear as though his wife had fainted, before notifying his family.
Darzadeh’s body was transferred to the forensic medical authority, and the suspect was later arrested. On Monday, October 19 (28 Mehr), the Forensic Organization officially confirmed suffocation as the cause of death.
This killing has once again brought domestic violence and femicide in Iran into public focus.
In Iran, the murder of women by family members has become alarmingly routine, with rates rising sharply in recent years.
According to human rights organizations, at least 172 women and girls were killed in 2024, averaging one woman every two days.
The crisis is compounded by Iran’s deeply flawed legal system, where men who kill their wives, daughters, or sisters — often under so-called “honor” pretexts — face minimal punishment or even legal protection under discriminatory laws.
As a result, impunity and patriarchal norms continue to fuel a systemic cycle of gender-based violence across the country.
