In the morning of the year 1364 [1985], I left the house to buy some Barbari bread. I noticed that the city felt slightly different. There were officers stationed at several locations, and the traffic of police cars at that early hour was unusual. While standing in line for bread, I overheard that they were going to execute “Aziz” today. Rumors about Aziz’s execution had been circulating in the days prior.
I was on my way to school. I was in the third year of high school, and our school was less than a hundred meters from the execution site. The nearby schools were virtually closed that day.
The square designated for the execution was packed with people. Everyone was eagerly waiting for Aziz’s execution. Teenage boys even clung to tree branches, whistling continuously and expressing their excitement. Everyone was trying to adjust their vantage point to get a better view of the execution scene. People had been awaiting Aziz’s execution for over a year. The officers cleared a path through the bustling crowd and brought in the vehicle carrying Aziz.
I had heard Aziz’s name many times over the past year, but that day was the first time I saw him when he was standing on the platform.
Aziz was a married man, about thirty years old, with two small children. His appearance did not suggest that he was a notorious person. He was to be avenged today for his crime.
The problem began when Aziz’s wife had left him due to disagreements, taking the children with her to her mother’s house.
A few weeks later, a little girl named Fatemeh, who was around four and a half years old and lived in a neighboring house, went missing after going out to play in the alley. They searched everywhere for little Fatemeh, but to no avail. Meanwhile, someone claimed to have seen the girl on Aziz’s bicycle. Perhaps you can guess the rest of the story.
Driven by lust and madness, Aziz had lured the girl into his home under false pretenses. After assaulting her, fearing for his reputation, he killed her. He then dismembered her body and placed the parts in a sack, which he threw into one of the town’s wells under the cover of darkness.
I think now you understand why people were rejoicing at Aziz’s execution.
The handheld microphone was handed to the prosecutor, who read the verdict. Aziz said his final words through the microphone, asking for forgiveness and saying a few more lines that I couldn’t hear due to the noise of the crowd.
The rope was placed around Aziz’s neck, and the victim’s family themselves pulled it tight. At that moment, my legs started trembling uncontrollably. The crowd’s cheers and cries of “Allahu Akbar” echoed loudly.
Aziz was left hanging for nearly an hour as the crowd dispersed, returning to normalcy, even as Aziz’s body continued to hang. Cars resumed their usual routes around the square.
Aziz was eventually taken down. A doctor on the scene confirmed his death. His body was placed in an ambulance and taken to the morgue.
Now I have a few questions for you.
- If our county or one of the neighboring ones had a place like “Shahr-e No” during the Shah’s era to satiate desires, would Aziz have committed such a heinous rape and murder?
(During the Shah’s time, some young men from our town, as they recalled, would dress in suits on Thursday afternoons after a week of work and head to Tehran to visit Shahr-e No, returning by Friday evening. They wouldn’t even glance at others’ honor during the rest of the week, considering it against their moral code.)
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Do you know how many thousands of cases of physical assault and child abuse occur annually in our country, with only a fraction being revealed while many others remain hidden out of shame?
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In your opinion, isn’t the government, which is aware of these issues yet has done nothing to prevent such crimes and fails to see any responsibility in this matter, culpable?
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Have you heard the famous phrase attributed to Ayatollah Taleghani, stating that every house or mosque should have a bathroom?
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Do you think that Aziz will be forgiven on the Day of Judgment, or will he be punished again there? Do you think the irresponsible rulers will not be punished on the Day of Judgment?
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Are you aware that Islam and the Shia sect have advocated temporary marriage as a solution to these problems for the past 1,400 years? The very concept of temporary marriage that some of you, with a facade of modernity, mock on social media while zealously practicing this religious allowance yourselves—an embodiment of the proverb, “Bring it up if you don’t mention it.”
Mohammad Mahdavifar
Sacred Defense Deminer and Diver
April 10, 2016