16-year-old girl Hana Rakan killed by father in Kermanshah

Hengaw – Tuesday, September 1, 2026

Hana Rakan, a 16-year-old girl from Kermanshah (Kermashan), was shot and killed by her father while she was asleep.

According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Rakan was killed on the evening of August 29, 2026, when her father, identified as Mojtaba Rakan, shot her in the head with a handgun while she was sleeping.

Hengaw has learned that Rakan had for years lived under severe restrictions imposed by her father and in a household marked by violence. She had attended school only through the fourth grade and was prevented from continuing her education. Her father had also prohibited her from having a mobile phone. Relatives said he had a history of violence and abuse toward his wife and children.

Sources familiar with the case said a distant relative had recently sought to marry Hana without her knowledge or consent. The proposal and her father’s belief that Hana had previously been in contact with the man angered him. On Saturday evening, he shot his daughter in the head with a handgun, killing her.

Rakan’s killing comes amid continuing cases of femicide and domestic violence in Iran. Gaps in legal protections against domestic violence, alongside discriminatory provisions governing parental and family authority, can leave women and girls particularly vulnerable to violence committed in the name of so-called “honor” or patriarchal control.