Iran hangs corpse of woman convicted of murdering husband

An Iranian woman, who was given a death sentence, died of a heart attack after seeing 16 men get executed before her turn. However, that did not deter the officials from carrying out the sentence. The cruel guards hung Zahra Esmaili's corpse to complete the "task."

Esmaili was given a harsh sentence for shooting her abusive husband. Her children were also arrested as her co-conspirators. Her daughter was sentenced to five years in prison, while her son was cleared of all charges and released.

Her death was confirmed by her lawyer, Omid Moradi, who said that she had suffered a heart attack in the moments leading up to her hanging.

In a now-deleted Facebook post, Moradi claimed that it was her mother-in-law who kicked the stool from beneath her corpse. She died in February 2021 in Rajaei Shahr prison of Karaj near the capital, Tehran.

Moradi further revealed that her husband was a senior agent in the Ministry of Intelligence. He added that Esmaili murdered her abusive husband in self-defence,

Iranian laws allow the death penalty for offences such as extramarital sexual relations, same-sex relationships, drug trafficking, and drinking alcohol.

The UN last year even warned that the country continues to execute prisoners "at an alarming rate." According to human rights group Amnesty International, the Iranian authorities executed at least 251 people within the first six months of 2022.

"The state machinery is carrying out killings on a mass scale across the country in an abhorrent assault on the right to life," said Diana Eltahawy, deputy regional director at Amnesty International.

In Iran, a man can get away with the murder of his wife and daughter, but the same is not true for women, who often do not have any recourse. According to a BBC report, Iran executes more women than any other country.

Women are the ones who have been the primary victims of state machinery. They are not even allowed to publicly speak in favour of equal rights for women.

Married women are not allowed to leave the country without their husband's permission. It is mandatory for women to wear a head covering in public. Women are forbidden from playing sports. In fact, women are not even allowed to watch men play volleyball or other games.