An Iranian reporter who first reported the murder of a child bride by her cleric husband was detained for 11 days.
Sina Ghalandari was arrested and detained by the order of district prosecutor and after the victim’s family filed a complaint against him.
The state-run Hamdeli daily reported on Monday that Sina Qalandari, a local journalist in Lorestan who reported the murder of 14-year-old child bride Mobina Souri who was killed by her husband and family members, complained to the victim’s family had been detained for 11 days after the victim’s family filed a complaint against him.
Mr. Ghalandari said that he had received the news of Mobina Souri’s murder ten days before it was published by the state media, but due to “regional conditions” he refused to publish it until the details were confirmed. He said that when the state-run media published false news in this regard, he started publishing the real news.
According to the reporter, when he revealed the reality, FATA police arrested him in a “very security and harsh manner” and confiscated his personal belongings, including his mobile phone.
“The prosecutor said he was to be disciplined so he would not publish such news”, Sina Ghalandari told the state-run daily.
Referring to his transfer to Khorramabad Central Prison and his 11-day detention, the reporter said that “I was not in good health condition at the time of the arrest, I had a bleeding stomach. I was not taken to the hospital at all, I was given gelofen tablets, which are ironically harmful to my stomach.”
Sina Ghalandari stated that he had not been “charged” and that he was detained by the order of the prosecutor, and that he had gone on a hunger strike in prison to protest his detention.
Child bride killed in honor killing
Mobina Souri was killed by a family member in August in Lorestan, western Iran.
“14-year-old Mobina was recently married to a young clergy. There were rumors about her and another boy,” a local told Rokna. The local said family members of Mobina’s husband killed her out of suspicion and bigotry.
“Someone had told Mobina’s father that a person had entered their home in the middle of the night. Mobina’s husband was home so this could not be true. These rumors caused her uncles and brother, and her husband’s uncles and father to plan her murder,” another local said.
The local added that they suffocated her with her own scarf to later say she had committed suicide.
“They say one of Mobina’s family members killed her, and that’s why her family did not press charges,” the local said.
The police detained Mobina’s husband, who was also her cousin. According to the police report, she was 16 years old.
“The body of 16-year-old Mobina was found in a garden,” Mahdavi Kia, a police official said. Kia said her husband was arrested on murder charges, although he denies it and says she committed suicide. A provincial police official announced the murder was due to family disputes.
In another report, ROKNA quoted the Governor of Rumeshkan as saying that Mobina’s husband “confessed” to the murder and that the eight other family members who were arrested were released after the confession.
According to the Iranian regime’s laws, those who commit honor killings are exempt from lengthy sentences.
