Iranian Woman Hanged for Killing Rapist Leaves Message for Mother: 'Death Is Not the End of Life'
An Iranian woman hanged for murdering her alleged rapist left behind a heartbreaking message for her mother in which she asserts that "death is not the end of life" and that she trusts God with her future, even if it meant death by the Iranian court.
"Let's see what God wants," Reyhaneh Jabbari said in a voicemail to her mother several months ago. The Iranian woman was charged with the murder of her accused rapist and in jail at the time she left the voicemail—her fate had not yet been decided, but she knew that she could easily be found guilty and hanged.
"The world did not love us," she said. "It did not want my fate. And now I am giving in to it and embrace the death. Because in the court of God I will charge the inspectors, I will charge inspector Shamlou, I will charge judge, and the judges of country's Supreme Court that beat me up when I was awake and did not refrain from harassing me … I will charge Qassem Shabani and all those that out of ignorance or with their lies wronged me and trampled on my rights and didn't pay heed to the fact that sometimes what appears as reality is different from it."
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Jabbari, 26, wanted to donate her organs to those who needed them, but to do so without them knowing where they came from. She did not want any recognition for her good deeds but to simply be released into the other world.
Before the execution was carried out on Saturday, Oct. 25, public protests had led to a postponement of the execution. Several international groups worked to try and overturn the sentence and free Jabbari, but to no avail.
"We condemn this morning's execution in Iran of Reyhaneh Jabbari, an Iranian woman convicted of killing a man she said she stabbed in self-defense during a sexual assault. There were serious concerns with the fairness of the trial and the circumstances surrounding this case, including reports of confessions made under severe duress. Iranian authorities proceeded with this execution despite pleas from Iranian human rights activists and an international outcry over this case. We join our voice with those who call on Iran to respect the fair trial guarantees afforded to its people under Iran's own laws and its international obligations," a press statement from the United States Department of State read.
