BLOOD TIES

Girl, 13, beheaded in her sleep with a sickle by her father in Iran ‘honour killing’ after she hoped to marry older man

A TEENAGE girl was reportedly brutally beheaded by her own father in an "honour killing".

Romina Ashrafi, 13, was killed by her dad after eloping with a 35-year-old man in Hovigh, Talesh county, in northern Iran, cops said.

The pair are reported to have eloped after her father disapproved of their marriage.

But Romina was found by police and forced to return home, despite telling authorities she feared for her life.

Gilkhabar.ir reports the man murdered his child in her sleep with a sickle on Thursday night.

He then reportedly immediately confessed, still holding the bloody weapon.

The father has been arrested, but will face a reduced sentence if convicted, the BBC reports.

In Iran, punishment is reduced for those convicted in so-called "honour killings".

The maximum sentence it carries is ten years, rather than the death sentence or payment of blood money, diyeh, in other murders.

Iranian local media reports the 35-year-old "boyfriend" is a man named Bahman.

Speaking to local media, the Governer of Talesh said: “The details of this case will be made public after the legal process”.

The young girl's death has sparked outrage across Iran, with the hashtag #Romina_Ashrafi  being tweeted out more than 50,000 times on Twitter.

Former vice-president for women and family affairs and the current secretary of Iran's Society for Protecting Women's Rights,Shahindokht Molaverdi wrote: "Romina is neither the first nor will she be the last victim of honour killings."

And journalist Masih Alinejad said the young girl was a "victim of anti-women laws in Iran".

She wrote: " A 35-year old man tricked her into eloping with him. Then, she was arrested. The judge decided to hand her over to her dad. Her dad cut her head off in her sleep.

"There was no-one to save her."

While the exact figures for the number of honour killings in Iran are unknown, a police official has previously suggested that they make up a fifth of the murder cases in the country.

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