Iran executes 24-year-old victim of child marriage at Qazvin prison

Hengaw – Sunday, August 9, 2026

Iranian authorities executed Marzieh Nayeri, a 24-year-old woman who had been forced into marriage as a child, at Qazvin Central Prison, also known as Choubindar Prison. She had been sentenced to death for the murder of her husband.

According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Nayeri was executed at dawn on Aug. 8, 2026, at Qazvin Central Prison.

Sources familiar with the case said that in late September 2021, when Nayeri was 18, a business associate of her husband named Alireza attempted to sexually assault her after consuming alcohol in the presence of her husband. Nayeri injured the man with a kitchen knife while defending herself and subsequently killed her husband. After four days in hiding, she sought refuge with her brother, who later turned her over to police.

Nayeri, who was from a village between Qazvin and Karaj, had been forced by her family to marry a man named Davoud when she was 17. Sources familiar with the case said her husband regularly allowed friends to gather at their home to consume drugs and alcohol and failed to intervene when they harassed or attempted to sexually assault her.

Nayeri was later sentenced to death under Iran’s qisas (retributive justice) laws for the murder of her husband.

Iranian state media and judicial authorities have not publicly announced the execution.