TEHRAN: A viral video of a man appearing to display his decapitated young wife’s head in the street after he discovered her alleged adultery has deeply shaken Iranians.
Police suspect that Mona Heidari, 17, was killed by her husband and brother-in-law in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran’s ISNA news agency reported.
By Monday, officers had arrested the two men “during a raid on their hideout,” state news agency IRNA said, citing local police.
The case prompted Iran’s vice president for women’s affairs, Ensieh Khazali, to call on parliament to take “urgent measures” and on the authorities to raise awareness to prevent such cases.
Iranian newspapers and social media saw an outpouring of shock and rage over the killing, with many demanding social and legal reforms.
“A human being was decapitated, her head was displayed on the streets and the killer was proud,” said the reformist daily Sazandegi.
“How can we accept such a tragedy? We must act so that femicide does not happen again.”
Renowned feminist filmmaker Tahmineh Milani wrote on Instagram: “Mona was a victim of devastating ignorance. We are all responsible for this crime.”
Following Heidari’s murder, calls were revived to reform laws for the protection of women against domestic violence and to raise the legal age for marriage, currently set at 13 in Iran.
According to Iranian media, the victim was just 12 when she was married, and had a three-year-old son by the time she was killed.
Lawyer Ali Mojtahedzadeh, in the reformist paper Shargh, blamed “legal loopholes” for “paving the way for honor killings.”
Fellow member of parliament Elham Nadaf told the ILNA news agency: “Unfortunately, we are witnessing such incidents because there are no concrete measures to ensure the implementation of laws to prevent violence against women.”
Authorities meanwhile shut down the news website Rokna, saying it “psychologically disturbed society” after it shared the viral video of the man, IRNA reported.
In May 2020, a man beheaded his 14-year-old daughter in another so-called “honor killing” which sparked public outrage. He was sentenced to nine years in prison later that year.
Viral video of man with wife’s severed head shakes Iranians
https://arab.news/v72m4
Viral video of man with wife’s severed head shakes Iranians
- The case prompted Iran’s vice president for women’s affairs, Ensieh Khazali, to call on parliament to take “urgent measures”
Israel’s hostage forum releases AI-generated video of last Gaza captive
- The Gaza ceasefire, which came into effect in October, remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling
JERUSALEM: An Israeli group representing the families of Gaza hostages released on Tuesday an AI-generated video of Ran Gvili, the last captive whose body is still being held in the Palestinian territory.
The one-minute clip, created whole cloth using artificial intelligence, purports to depict Gvili as he sits in a Gaza tunnel and appeals to US President Donald Trump to help bring his body back to Israel.
“Mr President, I’m asking you to see this through: Please bring me home. My family deserves this. I deserve the right to be buried with honor in the land I fought for,” says the AI-generated image of Gvili.
Gvili was 24 at the time of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
He was an officer in Israel’s Yasam elite police unit and was on medical leave when he learnt of the attack.
He decided to leave his home and brought his gun to counter the Hamas militants.
He was shot in the fighting at the Alumim kibbutz before he was taken to Gaza.
Israeli authorities told Gvili’s parents in January 2024 that he had not survived his injuries.
The AI clip was released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main group representing those taken captive to Gaza.
The Forum said it was published with the approval of Gvili’s family.
“Seeing and hearing Rani speak in his own voice is both moving and heartbreaking. I would give anything to hear, see and hold him again,” Gvili’s mother Talik said, quoted by the Forum.
“But all I can do now is plead that they don’t move to the next phase of the agreement before bringing Rani home — because we don’t leave heroes behind.”
The Gaza ceasefire, which came into effect in October, remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling.
In the first stage, Palestinian militants were expected to return all of the remaining 48 living and dead hostages held in Gaza.
Since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, militants have released 47 hostages.
In the next stages of the truce, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilization force is to be deployed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump in Florida later this month to discuss the second phase of the deal.
