The primary defendant in the murder case of Benita, an eight-month-old child, has been executed

The death sentence for the primary defendant in the murder case of "Benita," an eight-month-old child who died after being left inside a stolen vehicle, was carried out at dawn on Tuesday, June 18, in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, following confirmation by the Supreme Court of Iran. On July 19, 2017, two thieves stole the vehicle of Benita's father while he was opening the parking door, with the eight-month-old child sitting in the back seat. Shortly after, they abandoned the vehicle carrying the child on a street in the Meshiriyeh neighborhood of Pakdasht, where, according to judicial officials, the child died due to lack of oxygen and excessive heat. After their arrest, the thieves stated that they had left the vehicle after removing the car stereo while the child was inside. The second defendant in this case claimed that a few hours after abandoning the vehicle, he went to the Khatunabad police station in Pakdasht and informed the police about the incident, "but these reports were ignored." Although the spokesperson for the police denied the second defendant's statements, the Tehran prosecutor confirmed that the location of the stolen vehicle carrying "Benita," the eight-month-old girl, had been reported to the police by someone over the phone, and it was "expected" that the police would have discovered the vehicle "sooner." Mohammad Vafaei, the first defendant in this case who was executed on Tuesday morning, after his arrest in August of last year, confessed to the car theft and accepted his guilt regarding Benita. The 9th branch of the Tehran Criminal Court sentenced Mohammad Vafaei to "qisas" (retribution) for Benita's death, requiring him to pay the difference in blood money between a man and a woman, and imposed imprisonment and flogging for the charges of theft and abandoning a child. According to Article 428 of the Islamic Penal Code, if a murder is heinous or causes public outrage, or if the heirs of the victim cannot pay the difference in blood money, the difference in blood money for retribution can be paid from public funds at the discretion of the prosecutor and with the approval of the head of the judiciary. As reported by ISNA, since Benita's case also met such conditions, the difference in blood money was paid from public funds. On June 12 of this year, the father of the primary defendant in this case expressed regret over Benita's fate in court and asked her parents to forgive his son and to "demand any amount they want as blood money from him." Meanwhile, Mohammad Vafaei, in a reconciliation session to gain the satisfaction of Benita's parents, stated, "Execute me. I do not deserve forgiveness." He added, "I was the cause of the death of an innocent child and cannot cope with my conscience. I ask you to execute me and I also ask the family of the heirs not to grant forgiveness so that I may be freed from my conscience." He had previously claimed that he was "unaware" of the child's presence in the vehicle but "when he realized she was there, he abandoned the vehicle by the roadside and fled."