Zeinab Sekaanvand, a prisoner who was arrested and sentenced to death for the murder of her husband when she was just 17 years old, was executed on Tuesday morning (02 October) along with two other prisoners at Orumiyeh Central Prison. This prison sentence was enforced while human rights organisations had repeatedly called for annulment of her death sentence.

Zeinab Sekaanvand’s brother confirmed the execution of her sister over a telephone call with Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) and stated that “Unfortunately, the prison authorities asked me to go to the prison for a final visit yesterday afternoon when I met my sister for the last time.”

Out of the four other prisoners sentenced to death, who were transferred to solitary confinement for the enforcement of their sentence, two prisoners called Salman Khan Aliloo and Hassan Hajiloo were executed.  However, the other two prisoners known as Changir Irani and Mousa Nomani were transferred back to the ward as the families of the victims showed leniency for the time being.

Zeinab Sekaanvand Lakran, daughter of Muhammad, was born on June 22, 1994 at one of the villages of “Shot” district of Maku. She married in March 2009 at the age of 15 but she murdered her husband two years later on March 11, 2011.

“Zaynab lived in very difficult conditions due to her family’s poverty and traditional views. After getting acquainted with the man whom she married later, marries him, She ran away from home. Some time later, she married the man with the her family’s consent. Her husband repeatedly beat her, so Zeinab killed him. .“, a former cellmate of Zeinab Sekaanvand had told KHRN earlier in response to why she had killed her husband.

Zeinab confessed to killing her late husband by introducing herself to the police station. Three trial sessions were held at the Orumiyeh Criminal Court (Branch 2) to investigate Zeinab’ case in the presence of the victim’s mother and Zeinab’s lawyer. Eventually, after the last session of the court and hearing her  final defence statements on Oct 18, 2014,  Orumiyeh Criminal Court (Branch 2) sentenced Zeinab to death on Oct 22.

Upon her lawyer contesting this verdict, the case was referred to Branch 7 of the Supreme Court which approved the verdict on July 20, 2015. She had been held in Khoy Prison until 2013, but she was transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison after being sentenced to death. Although she had confessed to murdering her husband in the first years of her arrest, she later denied everything and claimed that the murder had been committed by someone else but she had taken the responsibility for some reasons. However, these claims were never reviewed.

Earlier, the victim’s attorney had told KHRN that the murder scene had raised some doubts about Zeinab’s part in murder and not only the scene of murder was never reconstructed but also the fingerprints on the murder tool were never investigated.

Another of Zeinab’s former Cellmates has told KHRN that “Zeinab seemed mentally unstable during her four-year prison time and all the prisoners of Female’s Ward were worried about her bitter fate. Zeinab married another prisoner during her prison time in 2015 because she hoped that getting pregnant and having a baby might prevent enforcement of her death sentence.”

The prisoner was transferred to one of Orumiyeh hospitals in October 2015 to give birth to her child after getting pregnant at Orumiyeh Central Prison but she gave birth to a still-born baby. Doctors said that her baby had died in her womb a couple of days earlier possibly due to her mother being under huge mental pressure.