Honor killing in Iran: Ariana Lashkari (15), shot dead by her father

Ariana Lashkari
Born 2007
shot dead: 27 June 2022
Residence: Nourabad, southern Iran
Origin: Fars
Children: none
Perpetrator: Her father Mohammad Kazem Lashkari (43 years old)

15-year-old Ariana Lashkari has great difficulty following the mandatory laws of Sharia. She has problems with the mandatory hijab, grumbles about the restrictive laws for girls and women, and the double standard that the government and Islamic society apply to men versus women.

Her father, 43-year-old Mohammad Kazem Lashkari, was ashamed of his beautiful, headstrong, studious, caring, intelligent daughter who refused to follow the unfairly strict religious laws.

One day Mohammad saw his daughter having fun and laughing in the park with a boy. He reportedly had great difficulty with his daughter's desire to choose her own lifestyle.

Upon returning home, an argument ensued and Mohammad made it clear to his daughter that he felt her behavior was an embarrassment to the family. Ariana fled the parental home and left for her paternal grandmother in Nourabad, a small town in Fars province in southern Iran.

On Monday, June 27, 2022, Mohammad shot his daughter to death with a shotgun in Nourabad.

After his arrest, Mohammad made the following statement, "After an argument, Ariana went to my mother's house and I could not control my anger. I went there with my shotgun to scare her. I really didn't mean to kill my daughter. I fired involuntarily."

The punishment for fathers who kill their daughters because of "honor" is very low in Iran with 3 to 10 years in prison because Iranian law is based on Sharia law.

What is an honour killing?

An honour killing is a murder in the name of honour. If a brother murders his sister to restore family honour, it is an honour killing. According to activists, the most common reasons for honour killings are as the victim:

refuses to cooperate in an arranged marriage.
wants to end the relationship.
was the victim of rape or sexual assault.
was accused of having a sexual relationship outside of marriage.

Human rights activists believe that 100,000 honour killings are carried out every year, most of which are not reported to the authorities and some are even deliberately covered up by the authorities themselves, for example because the perpetrators are good friends with local policemen, officials or politicians. Violence against girls and women remains a serious problem in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Serbia and Turkey.