A daughter executed her own mother by kicking away the chair as she was hanged in Iran.
Maryam Karimi was condemned to die for killing her husband, who reportedly subjected her to years of abuse and refused to grant her a divorce.
Maryam’s father and only relative, Ebrahim, had tried to intervene and did his best to solve the issue peacefully.
However, his son-in-law continued to subject his daughter to abuse, so he aided his mistreated child in the killing which took place 13 years ago, reports say.
After their arrest, Maryam’s six-year-old daughter went to live with her dad’s grandparents, who told her she was orphaned and that both parents died 13 years earlier.
Just weeks before Maryam and Ebrahim’s execution date, the now 19-year-old daughter of Maryam was told how her dad had died.
On February 22, 2021, Maryam and Ebrahim were transferred to death row, but the hanging was delayed for unknown reasons.
Under Iran’s law, it is the relatives of murder victims rather than the state who decide the killer’s punishment.
On conviction, families are asked if they want revenge in the form of “qisas” or an “eye-for-an-eye”, or if they want to spare them and receive a sum of “blood money” instead. Forgiveness is also an option.
In Maryam’s case, the only person who could make the decision to forgive her or continue with her execution was her daughter.
A few weeks later, the 19-year-old, who was 6 when her mother killed her father, was taken to Rasht Central Prison to kick the chair out from under her own mum’s feet, causing her to drop as she was hanged from the rafters.
Ebrahim was given a temporary reprieve but guards made sure to escort him in front of the stage where his daughter’s body was still swinging from the gallows.
In June this year, Ebrahim was killed in the same prison as his daughter.
