Child bride faces execution in Iran for killing her abusive husband unless she can pay £80,000 blood money
By KEVIN ADJEI-DARKO, SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER
Published: 09:42 EST, 3 November 2025 | Updated: 11:27 EST, 3 November 2025
A child bride in Iran is facing execution for allegedly killing her abusive husband unless she pays £80,000 in blood money to the victim's family.
Goli Koukhan has spent seven years on death row in Gorgan, in northern Iran, and has a deadline of December to raise the huge sum of money.
Activists say she grew up in extreme poverty and was married off to her cousin when she was just 12. She became pregnant within a year and had her first child at 13.
However, the now-25-year-old was arrested in 2018 after her husband died, and judges imposed a qisas sentence, meaning retribution for his death.
When she was 18, she found her husband beating their five-year-old son.
She called a cousin for help, and a fight broke out, resulting in her spouse's death.
When she called an ambulance and told them what happened, she was arrested along with her cousin.
During questioning, Koukhan had no lawyer and campaigners say she cannot read or write.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15252603/Child-bride-faces-execution-Iran-killing-abusive-husband-unless-pay-80-000-blood-money.html
