Women’s studies lecturer Zahra Ghaemi killed by her husband in Tehran

Hengaw – Sunday, October 12, 2025

Zahra Ghaemi, a lecturer and member of the Department of Women and Family Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, was strangled to death by her husband. The motive behind the killing remains unclear.

According to information obtained by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Ghaemi, a Tehran-based academic and member of the University of Tehran’s Women and Family Studies Department, was killed by her husband on Saturday, October 11, 2025.

Despite inquiries by Hengaw, no verified information has yet been obtained regarding the motive of the killing, and the incident has not been reported by state-controlled media.

The killing of Zahra Ghaemi constitutes another case of femicide in Iran, highlighting the persistence of violence against women, including among educated and socially active individuals.

Hengaw Organization for Human Rights emphasizes that femicide stands at the apex of entrenched misogyny and structural discrimination against women. The Islamic Republic of Iran, through the systematic denial of women’s fundamental rights and the enforcement of discriminatory laws, is not only directly responsible in certain cases but also creates and perpetuates the conditions that enable such crimes to occur.