Eleven Cases of Self-Immolation Among Women in Six Months in Dishmok

The state newspaper “Iran” reported that in one of the cities of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, more than 11 cases of self-immolation among women occurred during the first six months of 1398. Child marriage and domestic violence are among the causes of these self-immolations.

“Dishmok” is a city in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province and is part of Dahdashta County. The Iran newspaper reported on Sunday, Mehr 14 (October 6), that field research by social activists in Dishmok and surrounding villages shows that more than 11 cases of self-immolation among women occurred during the first six months of 1398.

Domestic violence, child marriage, and poverty and deprivation are the main causes of these suicides.

In the Iran newspaper’s report, a woman named “Soraya” is mentioned who ended her life through self-immolation. Soraya married her 12-year-old husband at the age of 11.

«They were young when they got married. They didn’t get along from the start. One day Soraya’s brothers confront her husband and beat him, and when her husband comes home he tells her: either you leave my house right now with the children or I will kill your youngest child. She was frightened and went into the room and poured gasoline on herself.»

Another young woman named “Kafi” set herself on fire after being beaten by her husband’s family. The mother of this young woman said: «That day her father-in-law and brother-in-law grabbed her hair and beat her, and then Kafi, who was in her own house a few kilometers away, set herself on fire.»

Kafi’s mother said: «Here all women beat themselves so much from being beaten. All these surrounding villages are full of it.»