Government Resends Bill to Intensify Punishment for 'Filicide' to Parliament

According to the news site Ekhtesari, the government of Masoud Pezeshkian has sent a bill to amend Article 612 of the fifth book of the Islamic Penal Code to Parliament for legal proceedings. Reports indicate that this bill was sent to Parliament in 2021 during Hassan Rouhani's presidency but has been dormant since then. The intensification of punishment for 'filicide' arose after public outrage in 2020 due to the murder of Romina by her father and the inability to 'execute the murderer.' The then Vice President for Women and Family Affairs promised to prepare a bill to intensify the penal punishment for a father in the case of child murder. The bill to amend Article 612 of the Islamic Penal Code was approved based on a proposal from the Judiciary and the Women’s Affairs Office of the Presidency and was sent to Parliament for approval on May 28, 2021. According to Article 220 of the former Islamic Penal Code and Article 301 of the current Islamic Penal Code, which was ratified in 2013, 'a father or paternal grandfather who kills his child will not be executed and will only be sentenced to pay blood money to the victim's heirs and penal punishment.' Furthermore, part of Article 301 states that execution is established only if the perpetrator is not the father or paternal grandfather of the victim (there is no difference in punishment for the gender of the child). This article clearly indicates that if a father or paternal grandfather kills their child or grandchild, they cannot be executed. Article 612 of the Islamic Penal Code also states: 'Whoever commits intentional murder and has no complainant or has a complainant who has forgiven the execution or for any reason is not executed, if the act disrupts the system and the protection and security of society or poses a risk of recurrence by the perpetrator or others, the court shall sentence the perpetrator to 3 to 10 years.' The proposed government bill suggests a punishment of 'fourth-degree penal imprisonment,' which according to Article 19 of the Islamic Penal Code is defined as 'imprisonment for more than five and up to 10 years.' Note 1 of this proposed bill emphasizes that if a person commits murder knowing that 'they will not be executed,' the maximum punishment specified in this regard will be determined for them. Critics believe that the main reason for the high rate of filicide in Iran is the existence of supportive laws for this act. Filicide in Tabriz under the pretext of 'female behavior and makeup' in conversation with Hossein Raeisi and Arya Yekta. International calls on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Femicide in Iran; acknowledgment by affiliates of the Islamic Republic of an 'epidemic of violence' against women. A woman in Mashhad fell into a coma after being struck by her husband with a pickaxe. A Tehran newspaper reported the murder of 78 women and girls in the first six months of the year. Media in Iran reported the murder of a 10-year-old disabled child by her mother. Filicide in Tabriz; the killer: 'My son was not accepted by social services; I killed him because of his feminine makeup.'