Wife decapitated by husband and forgiven by her parents after parading her head

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Mona Heydari was just 17 when she was murdered by her husband Sajjad Heydari, who dragged her from a vehicle outside her family home in an Iran honour killing

A man who decapitated his wife and paraded through the streets carrying her severed head has been handed a mere eight-year prison sentence in Iran.

He escaped a more severe punishment after her parents reportedly chose not to invoke Iran’s Islamic law of retribution.

Mona Heydari, a mother of one, was just 17 when she was dragged from a vehicle outside her family home and murdered in February 2022, according to court proceedings.

Her husband Sajjad Heydari, alongside his brother Heydar, carried out the horrific killing in Ahvaz, the capital of the south-western Khuzestan Province.

A judiciary spokesman confirmed the lenient sentence was imposed because Mona’s parents had “pardoned” him for the killing rather than demanding retribution, reports the Express.

Mona, who had been married off at just 12, had initially fled her abusive husband and escaped to Turkey with another man, the court heard.

Heydari had reportedly refused Mona’s repeated requests for a divorce.

Her father, identified as Javid in local reports, eventually tracked her down and persuaded her to return to Iran.

According to the BBC, her father allegedly enlisted Interpol to locate his daughter and brought her back to her violent husband, where her spouse — who is also her cousin — killed her, claiming she had brought dishonour upon him.

Disturbing video footage, which we have opted not to publish, emerged showing the killer husband holding his wife’s severed head in one hand and a large knife in the other following her murder.

Court spokesperson Massud Setayeshi confirmed that Heydari was handed a seven and a half year sentence for murder, alongside an additional eight months for intentional assault.

His brother, who disposed of his sister-in-law’s decapitated body, was handed a 45-month prison sentence for complicity in intentional homicide.

The court heard how the victim’s father defended marrying her off at 12 to a relative, claiming that the violence she endured throughout the relationship was entirely normal. Mona was just 14 when she gave birth to their son.

Her father praised the husband they had chosen for her as a decent partner, highlighting his work ethic and insisting he had provided the ‘best life’ for his daughter.

Javid told the court: “She was not forced to marry, and in fact, the husband provided her with the very best of lives.

“It’s true, there was fighting between them, and sometimes there was violence, and she would return home, but she only stayed for two or three days, and then he would pick her up, and life would return to normal.

“These fights between husband and wife are completely normal, and I don’t think there was a problem as she did not ask for a divorce.”

Mona’s father conceded, with hindsight, that she may have been too young to wed, but maintained: “We got a certificate of confirmation that she was physically old enough to marry, and there was no physical problem in the relationship.”

The family claimed the husband felt humiliated and insulted after his wife fled to Turkey with another man.

The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported the victim was forced into marriage with her cousin at just 12.

They revealed the young girl allegedly endured domestic abuse, and whenever she expressed a desire to divorce her husband, her family pressured her to return home for the sake of their child, who was born when she was merely 14.

Local media reported the husband’s brother wrapped the girl’s body in a blanket and disposed of it, while the husband paraded his wife’s head through the streets.

In the footage, the suspect is seen grinning broadly as he carries the teenager’s head, walking past local residents.

Meanwhile, the state-run news site Rokna was reportedly shut down for publishing the story and the footage at the time of the incident.

The NCRI’s Women’s Committee said: “Not a week goes by without some form of honour killing making headlines. The clerical regime’s failure to criminalise these murders has led to a catastrophic rise in honour killings.

“In a report published in 2019, the state-run Sharq daily newspaper wrote that an annual average of 375 to 450 honour killings are recorded in Iran. The murders are more prevalent [the areas of] in Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Ilam, and Sistan and Baluchestan.

“Some women’s rights activists believe that honour killings in Iran are officially justified as ‘family differences’.

“The catastrophic rise in honour killings in Iran is rooted in misogyny and the patriarchal culture institutionalised in the laws and society. Although the father, brother, or husband holds the knife, sickle, or rifle, the murders are rooted in the medieval outlook of the ruling regime.

“The clerical regime’s laws officially denote that women are second-degree citizens owned by men.”