Goli Koukhan, a child bride and victim of domestic violence, was spared the death penalty in Iran after she was able to raise sufficient diyah (blood money) to compensate the family of her dead husband, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mai Sato, confirmed on Friday.
“The blood money has been provided, but while we cherish the saving of one person's life, we cannot overlook the institutional and structural injustices that brought Goli Kokhen to the brink of death,” Sato wrote on X.
Kouhken was sold into marriage at 12 years old and suffered years of abuse at the hands of her cousin, whom she married.
Kouhkan had called for help from a relative when she witnessed her husband beating her five-year-old son, which led to a fight and his death.
Held on death row in Gorgan central prison for the last seven years, since her husband’s death when she was only 18, the case has been widely condemned by human rights groups.
After her marriage became both physically and emotionally abusive, Koukhan escaped to her family’s house to ask for help but was reportedly told by her father, “I gave my daughter away in a white dress, the only way you can return [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 take into consideration the domestic suffering Koukhan experienced in her 13 year marriage. “In the cases of women who kill in the context of domestic violence courts should fully take into account mitigating factors relating to the sexual and gender based violence that women and girls have experienced, including by addressing the gender bias facing women and girls that are sentenced to death,” the letter read.
Iran denies reports surrounding death sentence of child bride victim
In response to the letter, the regime denied claims that she was a member of the ethnic group Baluch, 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 had been her cousin who killed her husband accidentally while responding to an incident of domestic violence carried out against Khoukan’s son.
Khoukan “brutally murdered her husband with multiple stab wounds and beheading after administering anesthetic, which has 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 that he might get up and hurt me, so I took the kitchen knife (the yellow knife) and cut throat."
The regime also claimed to have examined thousands of messages between Khoukan and her “accomplice,” which allegedly led authorities to believe that the motive in the killing was related to their emotional relationship.
“Despite the finality of the judgment (with all stages of legal proceedings completed and with access to legal counsel), its execution has been suspended due to ongoing reconciliation sessions, and efforts to obtain the consent of the victim's family continue,” the regime asserted, despite earlier comments.
In disregard of Iran’s statements on her ethnic background, Sato wrote that “the Koukhan case reflects a broader pattern of discrimination against women throughout Iran's judicial system. Between 2010 and 2024, at least 241 women have been executed in Iran. Notably, in 114 of these cases, the women who were convicted and executed for murder had killed their husband or partner. Many of these women were victims of domestic violence or child marriage, or were acting in self-defense. “
It was previously reported that, even if Kouhkan paid her husband’s family, she would be expelled from her city and would be unlikely to be granted 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 murdered by the state. She had until December to pay 10bn tomans (approximately NIS 342,000) in blood money to her husband’s family.