Rouhani and the Iranian Ministry of Justice's reaction to the brutal murder of Romina

In response to the brutal murder of 13-year-old Romina, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ordered the acceleration of the consideration of anti-violence bills. Iranian Deputy Justice Minister Mahmoud Abbasi also called for “severe punishment” for the killer.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, at a meeting of the government council on Wednesday, May 27, expressed regret over the murder of Romina Ashrafi, a 13-year-old girl, by her father in Talesh city, and ordered that the bills on the prevention of violence be dealt with more quickly.

According to Iranian media reports, Romina Ashrafi's father attacked the girl in her sleep on Tuesday and beheaded her with a sickle. According to the police, Romina had run away with a young man and, following a complaint from her family, officers arrested the two after five days and returned Romina home. The girl had asked the officers not to hand her over to her family because of her father's violent behavior.

The news sparked strong reactions in Iranian media and social media, once again bringing the issue of domestic violence and honor killings into the public spotlight. On Wednesday, Iran's president called on government officials to consider stricter laws regarding "honor killings" and to expedite the processing of bills related to domestic violence.

Romina's father has been arrested, but under current law, he will only be sentenced to pay blood money or ta'zir. Article 220 of the Islamic Penal Code states: "A father or paternal grandfather who kills his child will not be subject to retribution and will only be sentenced to pay blood money to the heirs of the victim and ta'zir."

With the brutal murder of Romina Ashrafi at the hands of her father, the debate on the issue of domestic violence and honor killings and related laws and bills has once again escalated; bills that have been proposed for years with the efforts and pressure of activists and defenders of children's rights and human rights in Iran, but have not yet reached a conclusion during the long administrative process and various decision-making bodies.

Demanding "severe punishment" for the killer

Mahmoud Abbasi, Deputy Minister of Justice of Iran and Secretary of the National Authority for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, also said in response to the murder: "Without a doubt, our heavy duty is to pursue the matter judicially and severely punish the perpetrator of this crime, but this is not the end of the road; it is the beginning of a great and terrible path that requires us to take steps to prevent Roma women from becoming victims in society."

Abbasi stated that regarding children, "we need a change in social attitudes, and society must change its emotional view of children to a rights-based view."

Mahmoud Abbasi reminded: "A father who still lives in the Middle Ages and still considers his child to be his property and does not recognize him as an independent human being who has rights like other children and humans; he allows himself to assault him and even considers his life to be subject to his will."

The Deputy Minister of Justice of Iran called for a “severe response and a costly response at the societal level” to this bitter incident and this horrific crime, saying that this response should be such that it “sounds the alarm that, people, children are the red line of society.”

Source: DW