Details of Iranian Woman's Execution Reveal Barbarity

The gruesome details of the execution of an Iranian woman controversially convicted of murder in a love triangle have added barbarism to the infamy. Shahla Jahed was hanged in Tehran Wednesday after the son of the woman she was convicted of killing kicked away the stool she was standing on, according to a report in the London Daily Mail.

The conviction of 40-year-old Jahed (pictured) had enraged human rights activists because they alleged that she was forced to confess to a murder she didn’t commit. Authorities contended that Jahed, a former “temporary” wife of Iranian soccer star Nasser Mohammad Khani, had admitted to stabbing his “permanent” wife, Laleh Saharkhizan, in 2002, although she retracted the confession repeatedly during her trial, the Daily Mail reported.

The victim’s family, who attended the execution, rejected last-minute appeals for clemency. Khani also watched as Jahed bowed her head and prayed for a few moments before she burst into tears.
Then Khani’s son, whose age is not known, stepped forward and kicked away the chair to send her to her death.

In the Shiite religion — the majority belief in Iran — men and women can marry for an agreed period of time. Men can have up to four permanent wives, and any number of temporary wives. Women can be married to only one man at a time.