Goli Koukhan paid the family of her dead abusive husband 10 billion tomans in diyah (blood money) payment to avoid being killed by the Islamic regime.
Goli Koukhan, a child bride and victim of domestic violence, was spared the death penalty in Iran after she was able to collect enough diyah (blood money) to compensate her dead husband’s family, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mai Sato, confirmed on Friday.
“Blood money has been provided, but while we cherish the saving of one person’s life, we cannot ignore the institutional and structural injustices that brought Goli Kokhen to the brink of death,” Sato wrote on X.
Kouhken was sold into marriage at the age of 12 and suffered years of abuse at the hands of her cousin, whom she married.
Kouhkan had called for help from a relative when she saw her husband beating her five-year-old son, which led to a fight and his death.
Women, life, freedom mural in Tel Aviv, June 12, 2024. (Credit: Courtesy)
Held on death row in Gorgan central prison for the past seven years, since the death of her husband when she was just 18, the case has been widely condemned by human rights groups.
After her marriage became both physically and emotionally abusive, Koukhan fled to her family home for help but was reportedly told by her father, “I gave my daughter a white dress, the only way she can come back. [is wrapped in a shroud],” according to Ziba Baktyari, a member of the women’s advocacy organization Brashm.
In a letter dated December 1, Sato and several other UN officials urged the courts to take into account the domestic suffering Koukhan experienced in her 13-year marriage. “In cases of women who kill in the context of domestic violence, courts should fully consider mitigating factors related to sexual and gender-based violence experienced by women and girls, including by addressing the gender bias faced by women and girls who are sentenced to death,” the letter read.
Iran denies reports of child bride victim’s death sentence
In response to the letter, the regime denied allegations that she was a member of the Baluch ethnic group, claiming instead that she is an Afghan immigrant, and denied evidence that she was a victim of child marriage.
The regime also denied reports that it was her cousin who accidentally killed her husband while responding to an incident of domestic violence against Bin Khoukan.
Khoukan “brutally killed her husband with multiple stab wounds and a beheading after administering the anesthetic, which hurt public sentiment in the area where they live,” the regime claimed. “In part of her statement in court, she stated that “after [the stabbings] I was afraid he might get up and hurt me, so I took the kitchen knife (the yellow knife) and cut his throat.”
The regime also claimed to have examined thousands of text messages between Khoukan and her “accomplices”, which allegedly led the authorities to believe that the motive in the killing was related to their emotional relationship.
“Despite the finality of the sentence (with all stages of the legal proceedings completed and with access to a lawyer), its execution has been suspended due to ongoing reconciliation sessions, and efforts continue to obtain the consent of the victim’s family,” the regime claimed, despite previous comments.
Disregarding Iran’s claims about her ethnic background, Sato wrote that “the Koukhan case reflects a wider pattern of discrimination against women in Iran’s judicial system. Between 2010 and 2024, at least 241 women were executed in Iran. Notably, in 114 of these cases, the women who were convicted of murder or accomplice of these women were victims of domestic violence or child marriage, or were acting in self-defence”.
It was previously reported that, even if Kouhkan paid her husband’s family, she would be kicked out of her town and would likely not be given custody or contact with her 11-year-old son.
The #گلی کوهکن (#SaviGoli) campaign was launched to help her raise the necessary funds to avoid being killed by the state. She had until December to pay 10 billion tomans (about NIS 342,000) in blood money to her husband’s family.