A group of Kurdish women activists gathered before the courthouse of Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, on 6 October, protesting against the murder of Faezeh Malekinia by her father.
Faezeh Malekinia was a 22-year-old single woman from the Korkoreh (also Dowlatabad) village of Sanandaj.
On 3 October, she died of burns in Kowsar Hospital in Sanandaj.
Reportedly, she wanted to marry someone else after separating from her husband, but her family, especially her father, opposed it.
A source that spoke to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said the young woman’s father poured gasoline on her body and burnt her.
In protest of the murder of the young woman, Kurdish women activists held placards before Sanandaj courthouse that read “Nowhere is safe for women”, “We are all Faezeh”, “We are all responsible for killing women”, and “No to killing women”.
Activists participating in the protest rally demanded that the judiciary follow up on the case of the young woman and other cases of femicide in Kurdistan province.
They called for changes in the misogynistic laws that directly institutionalise violence against women and deprive them of their security and human rights.
During the rally, several protesters met with Mohammad Jabbari, the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Kurdistan province.
The activists informed Jabbari of the narratives that show Faezeh Malekinia did not commit suicide.
They also demanded that other cases of femicide in the province be legally pursued.
“This girl is indeed burnt, but it is being investigated whether she burned herself or her father burned her”, Jabbari had previously told the media.
“So far, no one has filed a complaint regarding the incident”, he had added.
He had also commented on the doctor who first published the news on media and said: “This is a violation of laws, and this person should not have posted it on the internet when nothing has been clarified yet.”
