17-Year-Old an Unwanted Forced Marriage Shot Dead by Family

February 01, 2025

Atefeh Zeghibi, a 17-year-old seeking to exit an unwanted forced marriage in Shushtar County, Khuzestan Province, was shot dead by her father and brother while she was holding her six-month-old baby.

The authorities said her relatives pumped 16 bullets into her body.

The motive behind the murder was Atefeh’s running away with a young man and subsequent marriage to him.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, in the early hours of January 29, Atefeh’s father and brother, wearing military uniforms, entered the home of Atefeh and her new husband.  The husband fled and the wife’s relatives then shot the wife.

According to the government-affiliated website Rokna, Atefeh had run away with the man two years prior. A year ago, the new husband paid 6 billion rials ($7,500) to her family to settle disputes and have them formally recognize the marriage through a practice known as “fasl.”  Despite receiving the money, news reports said the father still threatened to kill his daughter.