Execution of "Rana Farajovgli" under the shadow of the child marriage law

The execution of Rana Farajovgli under the child marriage law once again showed how the Islamic Republic punishes victims of violence instead of supporting them.

In one of the most recent examples of the connection between judicial violence and structural discrimination against women and girls, the death sentence of Rana Farajovgli, a young Turkish woman from Tabriz, was carried out in the early hours of Wednesday, December 1, 1404, in Tabriz Central Prison. This is despite the fact that Rana was not a “professional killer,” but one of countless girls who, under the shadow of the Islamic Republic’s child marriage law, entered a cycle of violence from childhood and became a victim of a structure that first forced her into a life of slavery at the age of 16 and then hanged herself to escape it.

According to the human rights organization Hengaw, Rana was arrested two years ago on charges of murdering her husband and sentenced to death by the judiciary, ignoring a long history of violence, coercion, and inequality. Rana is just one of many victims who are not safe in a discriminatory structure, not only within the family, but also in society and the courts.

According to informed sources, at the age of 16, just in her early teens, Rana was forced by her family and without her consent to marry a man 19 years her senior; a man who trapped her for years in a life that was “like death.” In fact, Rana was a child who was sold into marriage; a woman who, instead of being supported, was ultimately executed. Rana had said in court that she did not even want a lawyer because the only feeling she had was “to escape that life.”

This painful narrative is not the story of one person; rather, it is a clear picture of a structure that not only legalizes child marriage in Iran, but also traps girls in a cycle of domestic violence, social helplessness, and judicial injustice.

In Iran, under the rule of the Islamic Republic, marriage of girls is legally possible from the age of 9 lunar years, and from the age of 13 with the permission of a legal guardian; a law that not only goes against global standards and international child rights conventions, but also forces thousands of girls into the roles of wife and mother before they reach physical and psychological maturity.

The consequences of this cycle are clear:

• Many of these girls, with a large age gap, are given to men with whom the relationship is effectively a form of ownership, not marriage.
• Dropout, economic dependency, domestic violence, and deep depression are widespread among these "women-children."
• And when these girls try to escape this violence (whether by running away or defending themselves), the same law that victimized them ultimately provides them with the gallows.

Rana's execution is one of the most obvious examples of this cycle: a structure that first renders the victim defenseless, then punishes him.

As of the time of writing, the news of Rana’s execution has not been published in any of the state media outlets, including those close to the judiciary. This silence reflects a well-known pattern: eliminating signs of violence against women, concealing the social repercussions of such cases, and preventing the formation of public sensitivity towards victims of child marriage.

Now the question is, how does child marriage produce victims? According to official and unofficial statistics, tens of thousands of girls in Iran are married off before the age of 18 every year, some of whom are married off to men at very young ages, between 10 and 14. Many of these girls are also exposed to high-risk pregnancies, ongoing violence, and deprivation of education.

In addition, there are numerous reports of suicide, running away from home, honor killings, and desperate defenses among this group. In other words, Rana is not just a name, but a symbol; a symbol of a path that begins with abducted childhood and may end in prison and the gallows.

The Islamic Republic, on the one hand, considers child marriage “legal” according to Islamic law, and on the other hand, punishes the disastrous consequences of this law as a “crime.” From the perspective of a Christian who emphasizes the unconditional value of the human person, the dignity of women, and the protection of children, the construction of such a structure is not only a sign of failure, but also a sign of a fundamental denial of human rights. A system that takes away girls’ childhood, robs them of their right to choose, blocks the possibility of liberation, and ultimately executes the survivors of suffering as “criminals,” against the slightest standard of justice.