Gathering of a Group of Mahshahr Citizens to Combat Child Abuse

Following the news of the abuse of three children by their father and stepmother in the Talaghani neighborhood of Mahshahr, a number of citizens gathered in front of the courthouse in the city, demanding serious action against child abusers. Both suspects in the child abuse case have been arrested. According to reports, these three children, aged six, nine, and twelve, were imprisoned and abused by their parents in their residential home. The abuse of these three children by their father and his wife was reported to the police by neighbors after the hand of the eldest daughter was broken by a 'hammer.' According to IRNA, these three children are the result of two previous marriages of the father, whose two older daughters' mother has passed away, and the mother of the third daughter is divorced. As announced by the governor of Mahshahr, the father of these children confessed on the first day of the incident after committing the crime against his eldest daughter, was arrested, and sent to prison. Mohsen Biranvand stated that the stepmother, who was under investigation, was arrested on Tuesday and is currently 'under custody.' Mr. Biranvand praised the support of the citizens of this county for the victims of child abuse and assured citizens whose feelings were 'hurt' by the news that the judiciary will take serious action against the offenders in this case. He also reported that the condition of the abused children is 'favorable' and added that they have been handed over to 'their uncle, who is a completely trustworthy person.' Mahdi Mohammadi, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Mahshahr, also confirmed the arrest of these child abusers, stating that the case is in the process of 'final completion' and no ruling has been issued in this regard so far. In recent years, numerous reports of child abuse in Iran have been published by Persian-language media. In March 2018, the head of Iran's social emergency services announced that in the first six months of the previous year, 16,000 cases of child abuse were reported to the country's social emergency services. According to Reza Jafari, by the end of the previous year, 27,500 cases of various types of child abuse, including sexual, physical, emotional, and neglect, had been reported to social emergency services. He also added that '29 percent of the abuses were physical and three percent sexual,' but did not specify what the rest of the child abuse cases pertained to. The head of Iran's social emergency services at that time stated that 'many families do not report cases of sexual child abuse due to fear of security and reputation.' Previously, officials of the country's social emergency services have stated that some families hide the issue of sexual abuse of their children and do not report it. According to statistics announced by Hossein Asad Beigi, the former head of Iran's social emergency services, in the previous year, 60 percent of child abuse cases were committed by fathers, and a total of 86 percent were committed by parents. Hossein Asad Beigi announced in October 2017 that 1,642 cases, or 60 percent of reported child abuse cases to 'crisis intervention centers,' were committed by fathers, and only one and a half percent of child abuse cases were committed by strangers. The high rate of child abuse in Iran has prompted the government to draft a bill for the protection of children and adolescents, which is set to be reviewed soon in the open session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. This bill was presented to the parliament in 2011 during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration but was not reviewed in the ninth parliament. Hassan Rouhani's government has reintroduced this bill to the parliament, which has currently been approved by the judicial commission of the parliament. As Tayebe Siawoshi, a member of parliament, recently reported, in Article 9 of the Child and Adolescent Protection Bill, it is stated that 'if parents commit crimes against their children, it has been criminalized.' Ms. Siawoshi added: 'For example, regarding how much a child has been beaten, percentages have been determined, and also in relation to whether the child suffers from a bodily injury caused by the father, it has also been criminalized.' This member of parliament also added that parents who physically abuse their children may face 'three to six months or even one year' of imprisonment as punishment. Using reports from IRNA, ISNA, and Radio Farda.