TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Married at age 13 to a man 18
years her senior, Ferdows was the wife that Iranian society expected her
to be: obedient, and silent, despite the beatings and humiliation.
But after 30 years of marriage, she had had enough. She arranged to
have her husband, Hedayat, killed, authorities say.
Ferdows, who has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death, is
one of at least 20 Tehran women accused of murdering their husbands since
February. Initially, the reports of the slayings were largely unnoticed.
That changed as the number rose and Iranians began to see the killings
as signs of social stresses.
"Husband killing is a new phenomenon in Iran's male-dominated society.
It means economic hardships and social crises are reaching a crisis point,"
said Mohammad Ahmadi, a sociologist.
He cited a number of problems in Iranian society that lead to frustration
and desperation: forced marriages, philandering by husbands, impotence,
poverty and no healthy entertainment in a country whose Islamic laws ban
socializing between men and women who are not closely related.
Others blame restrictive divorce laws that leave women feeling murder
is the only way out of a bad marriage.
In Ferdows case, she accused her husband of abuse.
"During 30 years of matrimonial life, Hedayat always beat me. He was
a doubter and skeptical of everything and didn't trust me. He had made
the life hell for me," Ferdows told authorities, who have identified her
only by her first name.
Ferdows paid a man the equivalent of $3,750 to stab her husband to death
three years ago, prosecutors said. The crime wasn't exposed until this
February, when police found her husband's remains in an abandoned building.
She had told people her husband abandoned her.
Both Ferdows and the hit man were convicted and sentenced at a closed
trial in April. Word of the outcome leaked out a few weeks ago.
The punishment for women who murder their husbands is death. Some have
already been convicted and executed. Others are on death row and some are
awaiting trial. They come from all social classes.
"Divorce is the first solution for women to get rid of an undesirable
troubled life. But why did these women ignore this option and resort to
something that carries the death sentence?" asked the monthly magazine
Zanan (Women).
While Iranian men can divorce almost at will, a woman who wants a divorce
must go through a legal battle that can take up to 20 years, said lawyer
Sara Irani. Even then, she said, it might end with the woman failing to
dissolve the marriage.
Under Iran's Islamic laws, a man is allowed to keep four wives at one
time, a right not granted to women.
Even if a husband is having an affair, he can claim to have undertaken
a "sigheh," or temporary marriage. It's a contract allowed under Iranian
law that allows a man and woman to be "married" for any length of time
they choose. Critics call it a form of legalized prostitution.
Nor does a wife trapped in a violent marriage have much recourse against
her husband.
"A woman has to bring four men witnesses confirming violence against
her by her husband," Irani said. "How is a woman in Iran expected to keep
four men in her bedroom to witness her husband beating her?"
Irani, who is also a writer on women's affairs, said that husband killing
is the "outcome of humiliation and discrimination against women" and that
the recent surge in cases should pressure the country's leaders to improve
legal protection for women.
Ahmadi, the sociologist, said that in a country where there is virtually
no sex education, unhappy marriages and domestic violence also can arise
when husbands and wives don't know how to please each other. "Many
couples don't have enjoyable sex," he said.
Abdosamad Khorramshahi, a lawyer, sees social changes contributing to
the killings.
"Previously, we had a socially closed society. Women were not allowed
even to get out of the home without the husband's permission. Now, things
have changed. They are more outspoken and courageous. Women have become
aware of their rights and are fighting for
equality," he said.
According to official figures, 44,000 Iranians were divorced last year,
a 12 percent increase from the previous year. At the same time, registered
marriages were down 4.5 percent.
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press