More
Crime Against Women in Iran
IRAN
AFP October 15, 2000
A
woman in Tehran is raped; murdered and mutilated every six days as
the capital faces an escalating crisis over runaways, a government
newspaper said Sunday.
The Iran paper said the bodies of 30 women, some of them
underage, have
been found in the past
six months, all of them with their faces burned and
all of them victims of
rape.
Most of the victims were between 25 and 35 years old, it said,
adding that
the youngest was a
15-year-old who had run away from home and was believed
to have fallen into the
clutches of a local gang.
The paper cited police statistics saying the number of
runaways in the
capital had risen 30% in
the last year, with more than 900 girls and 700
boys fleeing home for a
variety of reasons.
It said one of the main reasons for the higher number of
female runaways
was likely the
traditional preference shown to sons in Iranian households.
Tehran has established a home for runaway girls, who can move
into the
house after getting
medical and police approval, and the paper said many
girls who take to the
streets are victims of violence at home.
It said there was also a marked increase in the number of
bodies
discovered near the end
of the school year, when the unhappy youngsters
begin
summer holidays that will oblige them to spend more time at home.
Iranian officials have expressed concern in recent months over
a rapid
rise in crime as well as drug trafficking and consumption.