Sixteen-year-old Ateqeh Rajabi was accused of engaging in premarital sex, and was subsequently hanged in Neka, Iran, last August. Her story remains unknown to most and is passively handled by those who seem reluctant to choose between universal “rules” of human rights and the exceedingly permissive standards of cultural relativism.  

According to court sources, Ateqeh, who was denied access to a lawyer, told the religious judge who presided over her case that he should punish the perpetrators of moral corruption rather than the victims. She then removed her headscarf, and declared that she was the victim of an older man’s advances. Immediately after her testimony, Ateqeh became the tenth child “offender” to receive a death sentence since 1990 in Iran.  

Following her execution, the presiding judge publicly announced that he had endorsed and pushed for the death warrant because Ateqeh possessed a “sharp tongue and had undressed [removed her headscarf] in court.” Ateqeh’s co-defendant, an older male, was sentenced to 100 lashes and was released once his punishment was completed.  

While numerous human rights organizations including Amnesty International have decried the tragic fate of Ateqeh, the story has largely been cast aside, placed on the fringes of mainstream media.  

It is an outrage, a worldwide shame, that our selective interests in keeping our words and positions neutral can render the murder of a female child not quite newsworthy enough.  

Toyin