UN Special Rapporteur for Iran Mai Sato on Friday welcomed the release of an Iranian child bride who was on death row for killing her abusive husband, warning that the case exposes deep-rooted institutional injustices in Iran’s judicial system.
“The diyah (blood money) has been paid, but while we celebrate saving one life, we cannot ignore the institutional and structural injustices that brought Goli Kouhkan to the brink of death,” Sato said in a post on X.
Kouhkan, a 25-year-old Iranian woman and child marriage survivor who had been sentenced to death for killing her abusive husband, was spared after the victim’s family agreed to forgive her, the judiciary’s news agency reported on Tuesday.
“Goli was sold into marriage as a child and endured years of domestic violence in a country where such violence is not effectively criminalized,” Sato said.
Kouhkan comes from Iran's Baloch minority in the southeast, where poverty and traditional social practices pose serious challenges to women’s rights under the Islamic Republic.
She gave birth at home at 13 without medical care. Attempts to escape the marriage failed because of her undocumented status as a Baloch woman and the societal pressures she faced.
In May 2018, her husband beat both her and their five-year-old son. After a relative was called to intervene, a confrontation ensued that resulted in the husband’s death, according to UN experts who had urged Iran to halt the execution.
“Between 2010 and 2024, at least 241 women were executed in Iran. Notably, in 114 of these cases, the women convicted and executed for murder had killed their husband or partner. Many were victims of domestic violence, child marriage, or were acting in self-defense,” Sato said.
“The case gained widespread international attention, including in global media, but it raises the question: what happens to all the cases that never get heard?” she added.
In Iran, the legal marriage age for girls is 13, and even younger with a guardian’s and judge’s approval. Rights groups say girls and women have little protection from domestic violence, and face major obstacles when trying to divorce.
“The qisas (retribution) system, which conflicts with many international human rights standards, remains in place. We urgently need the complete abolition of the death penalty and protection for women’s rights,” Sato said.
