A woman has been shot dead in the eastern Kurdish city of Merîwan (Marivan). According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK), the victim was Leila Alirmaei, a mother of two children. The alleged perpetrator was identified as a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards stationed in the nearby city of Serwawa (Sarvabad).
According to reports, the femicide took place on Sunday on the outskirts of Marivan in front of the woman’s home, where she also ran a small shop. The KMMK was able to ascertain that there had been a personal altercation between Alirmaei and the guard. The man then pointed his service weapon at the mother of two and fled after the crime.
Regime troops put pressure on family
Immediately after the woman was shot, other Revolutionary Guards reportedly cordoned off the scene and prevented attempts to make information about the incident public. Medical personnel, who were notified by witnesses, arrived and found Alirmaei unresponsive. Despite resuscitation efforts, she was pronounced dead.
According to information from the family’s circle, the relatives of the victim are under enormous pressure. Security authorities have instructed them not to speak to the media or human rights organizations.
Structural violence and systematic impunity
The KMMK condemned the femicide in Marivan as an expression of structural violence and systematic impunity of state actors in the Kurdish areas of Iran. The association said this was not an isolated case, but a pattern that was encouraged by the lack of legal consequences for members of state institutions. The organization called on international observers to pay closer attention to the situation of the Kurdish population in Iran. Diplomatic initiatives are needed to protect the civilian population and put pressure on the regime, the association stated.