Iran’s child bride ‘Maryam’ due to be executed

An Iranian child bride forced to marry her husband at the age of 14 is now facing execution for murdering her husband when she was 17, two international human rights groups warned this week.

Amnesty International reported Thursday that the death sentence for Juvenile offender Razieh Ebrahimi --also referred to as “Maryam”--“has been sent to the Office of the Implementation of Sentences, so it could be carried out at any time.”

Joe Stork, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, said: “Every time an Iranian judge issues a death sentence for a child offender like Ebrahimi, he should remember he is flagrantly violating his legal responsibilities to administer justice fairly and equitably.”

“Iran’s judiciary should reverse its execution order of a child bride who says she was battered,” Stork added, in statement posted on HRW’s website.

The Iranian authorities arrested Ebrahim in 2010 when after shot and killed her abusive husband when he was sleeping.

She reportedly buried his body in the backyard, HRW reported, citing a source close to the case.

Ebrahim admited guilt and has since being held in a prison in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, the capital of the Arab-majority Khozistan province.

The Human Right Watach said “Iran’s judiciary rejected Ebrahimi’s request for a retrial despite the fact that she was under 18 when she committed the murder.”

Although Iran’s penal code strictly prohibits the execution of child offenders found guilty of certain crimes, there is no execution prohibition in cases of murder.