A victim of child marriage ends her life by committing suicide in Khoy

Hengaw: Friday, July 14, 2023

Rahela Rahdar, a 15-year-old girl from the Qatur sub-district of Khoy City, committed suicide and lost her life. She was a victim of child marriage and was forced into marriage a few months ago under her family’s pressure.
 

According to the report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Tuesday, July 13, 2023, a 15-year-old girl victim of child marriage named Rahela Rahdar committed suicide by hanging herself in her family's house in the Qatur sub-district of Khoy City.
 

According to an informed source, Rahela Rahdar was forced to marry at the age of fourteen under her family‘s pressure and committed suicide after seven months of marriage.
 

In this regard, one of Qatur's civil activists told Hengaw: "After raising problems with her husband, Rahaleh Rahdar returned to her parent's house, and there, too, she faced disputes with her family over this issue, which led to her suicide."
 

Child marriage is a practice that infringes on the mental and physical well-being of children and violates their human rights. However, civil society’s efforts to eradicate this practice have faced resistance from some groups who invoke the right to personal status and religion, as well as the lack of effective judicial oversight in different cultural or religious contexts. This situation has exacerbated the breaches of women’s and children’s rights by perpetuating child marriage, despite the recognition and respect for cultural diversity in the international human rights framework.