Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 21, 2024: Mehdi Atayi, a man on death row for rape charges, was executed in Qazvin Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Qazvin Central Prison on 21 May. His identity has been established as 23-year-old Mehdi Atayi who was sentenced to death for rape charges.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Mehdi Atayi was accused of raping a 14-year-old girl two year ago which lead to the girl’s death. But Mehdi told his cellmates that he had nothing to do with the rape, he’d just let his friend use his house to be alone with his girlfriend. When he returned home, he was confronted with the 14-year-old girl’s body who was unconscious and quickly transferred her to a medical facility. She spent 10 days in hospital without saying anything about the real culprit and his two friends who had committed the rape are still on the run.”
“Mehdi swore in court that he was innocent and he had called the police himself. But he had no evidence and his culprit friends were on the run without any information about their whereabouts,” the source added.
At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
In cases of rape, there is a high chance of defendants being tortured to make false confessions, which is used to issue death sentences. In Iran is one of the few countries in the world that issues the death penalty for rape. A lot of cases are also rushed without the defendants having access to a lawyer.
According to the 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 20 people were executed for rape charges in 2022 compared to 23 in 2022 and 10 in 2021.