Domestic Violence: Woman Repeatedly Assaulted by Husband in Tehran
A woman in Tehran has been stabbed repeatedly by her husband. The husband was previously detained for beating his wife, and after being released on bail, he committed this act. The 56-year-old woman states that “when I went to the police station after the first incident and objected to my husband’s release, they coldly told me ‘what can we do, he’s your husband and we can’t do anything.’ Where can a woman go except to her own home? How can I go home when I don’t feel safe from my husband? For nearly 2 months I’ve been lying in bed with a severed hand, a paralyzed arm, a damaged eye and face, how can I provide for my living expenses?”
According to Hrana news agency, citing Rokna, Ashraf Sadat Hosseini, 56, now lies in bed with a face full of stitches, a blinded eye, fingers and the palm of one hand severed, one arm without movement, and numerous stab wounds from a knife and axe on her head. She speaks with difficulty from her hospital bed and describes the day of terror—when she only endured pain, watching her hands being destroyed and her fingers severed, scattered in a corner. For her, that day has been nothing but nightmares! The sound of breaking glass still rings in her ears. No one was there to save her until she thought she would die and closed her eyes forever.
Her survival was a miracle, but now living seems potentially worse than death. She used to work and now cannot even care for herself. She is terrified of her home and no longer wants to set foot in it.
According to Hrana news agency, citing Rokna, the woman, Ashraf Sadat Hosseini, says at the beginning of her account that fear of her husband causes her to constantly glance at the window, and she fears he will break it and come after her with an axe.
Ashraf Sadat Hosseini, who became the target of repeated axe blows from her husband in a tragic and deadly tragedy, said: “I married Mohsen 27 years ago. Throughout these years, he was a vicious and quarrelsome man. When my husband started using crystal methamphetamine, his behavior toward me became worse than before, and he started making immoral accusations against me and my daughter. Every day when I came home from work, he would tell lies and made life hell for me.”
She continued: “It was early September when I came home from work and he started making accusations again. When I objected to why he was making such ugly and false accusations against me, he beat me savagely and broke my head and ribs with a vase. I filed a complaint and he was arrested, but his sister released him on bail. When my husband was released on bail—just a salary slip—I was at my mother’s house. He sent messages to my children telling them to tell their mother to come back home, and that he would leave. But we didn’t know my husband intended to kill me.”
Ms. Hosseini continued: “One of my children got coronavirus, so I went to my own house. After 10 days, Mohsen called and under the pretext of wanting to pick up his boots and shoes, came to the front of the house. When I went to the door, I told him to come into the courtyard and get his shoes himself, but he insisted that I come into the courtyard. In one moment, he threw me on the ground in the courtyard, put his knee on my throat, and said I had to give my consent. Since I feared my son would come home, I ran away in terror. After that, I went to the police station and the coroner’s office and filed a complaint against him.”
She stated: “At 7 PM on November 16 this year, Ashraf Sadat Hosseini returned home to her house on Eitheari Street North in Farhezan district from her workplace. She was inside the house when she heard a sound from the courtyard. Fear gripped her, and she suspected her husband had come for revenge again. She shouted into the house. Terrified, Ashraf Sadat went behind the door. Her husband, changing his voice, introduced himself as Said, Mohsen’s nephew. Ashraf Sadat was frightened and didn’t open the door, only thinking of escape. The frightened woman put on her chador to find an escape route through the window, but the kitchen window screen blocked her escape route. Mohsen began cursing and broke the house window. Before Ashraf Sadat could escape the house, she called her son and informed him of her father’s attack on the house.”
Regarding her husband’s attack, Ashraf Sadat said: “Mohsen knew no one was home and intended to kill me. I quickly left the house, and when I reached the door frame in the courtyard, Mohsen came down from a platform and first struck my heel with an axe, causing me to fall to the ground, unable to escape further. I was in the alley. Three young men were in front of the door. I had fallen to the ground when Mohsen struck hard at my head and face with the axe. I tried to block the blows with my hand. The axe went up and down, and I blocked the strikes with my hand until one of the female neighbors pushed him away, and Mohsen, confident he had killed me, fled. I don’t know how they brought me to the garden or covered me with a chador. When my son arrived, I remember nothing else.”
AliReza, regarding this tragic incident that happened to his mother, said: “My father had problems with my mother from the beginning, but since 2007, my father’s conflicts with my mother intensified. The differences escalated until 2 months ago when my father broke my mother’s ribs with a vase and even broke my twin sister’s nose because of his beliefs. My father is addicted to drugs and takes psychiatric pills, constantly making inappropriate accusations and insults toward my mother and sister. He had certain delusions, then started threatening to kill, and made cold weapons at home such as axes, hatchets, knives, and crude axe, attacking my mother with this makeshift axe.”
He added: “When I reached my mother’s side, she had no pulse, and my father was convinced he had killed my mother, so he stopped striking. My mother’s fingers and right hand were on the ground, which we took to the hospital to reattach, but two fingers and my mother’s ring were not in the alley. When my mother regained consciousness in the hospital, we realized my father had taken her fingers and ring with him.”
AliReza said: “The blows were so heavy and forceful that the axe handle broke and was left at the scene. Believe me, a terrorist wouldn’t do this to another terrorist. From that day on, I was always prepared for confrontation and even didn’t allow my sister to go anywhere alone because I knew he would come after us again. No father does this to his wife and children. If he wanted to kill, he would do it like that girl whose father killed her in the north, not torture the mother. My mother had remained silent all these years because she wanted to preserve her honor and reputation.”
Addressing Ibrahim Raisi to deal with her husband and support a suffering woman, Ashraf Sadat Hosseini says: “Why shouldn’t the judicial system, government, and the establishment support a woman who wants to live with dignity and honor? Why shouldn’t these people be stopped and the law not strictly enforced against them, so my husband comes after me again after the first incident? When I went to the police station and objected to my husband’s release, they coldly said ‘what can we do, he’s your husband and we can’t do anything!’ Where can a woman go except to her own home? How can I go home when I don’t feel safe from my husband? For nearly 2 months I’ve been lying in bed with a severed hand, a paralyzed arm, a damaged eye and face. How can I provide for my living expenses? Last year, despite all the difficulties at home and work, I made an effort to improve my job situation and got a law degree to lift myself and my family up, but this man didn’t appreciate me and his children.
Regarding his mother’s surgical expenses, AliReza says we sold everything we had to pay for his mother’s transplant surgeries and treatment, but the costs are high and we need to return to the hospital and keep her under observation. I ask people to pray for my mother’s health.
Source: Hrana
