Conversation with the brother of one of the victims of sexual assault in Iranshahr.

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Maryam Shafiepour

The news of a group’s violation against girls in Iranshahr, Sistan and Baluchestan province, was first mentioned by Molavi Mohammad Tayeb Molazehi, the Sunni Friday prayer leader, in his Eid al-Fitr sermon in this city.

The news also reported that one of the members of this gang has been arrested and has confessed to 41 cases of group violence.

He had added without mentioning the identity of the individuals, “These thugs have been from the same kids as us, and if I say their names, some people will be ashamed.” And “Unfortunately, some people are powerful, and some have money and sometimes the combination of these two groups leads to incidents like the rape of girls in Iranshahr.”

Based on information obtained from some of the victims or eyewitnesses, the perpetrators, who were wearing the uniforms of law enforcement or military forces, have forcibly abducted girls and carried weapons.

In this regard, we had a short conversation with the brother of one of the victims. He says, “Their number has been very high. These people were a gang and according to their own confessions, they have been doing this [raping girls] for almost eight months. They would steal girls with Sepah uniforms, do these things and then release the girls and leave. They would walk in front of the authorities without any fear or concern, they would make the girls ride with them and leave. The authorities thought they were Sepah forces and showed no reaction.”

On the first days of the revelation of this tragedy, judicial and local authorities were contradictory. One day after the widespread publication of this news, Mohammad Nabi, the public prosecutor and revolution prosecutor of Iran Shahr, announced the arrest of the “main perpetrator” and stated that the Iran Shahr Security Council is responsible for investigating these events. On the other hand, the head of the Sistan and Baluchestan judiciary reacted to this issue, stating that “some” of the suspects have fled to the cities of Chabahar and Fanouj. Although he had previously dismissed the Imam Jum’ah’s claim of group assault as unverifiable and reduced the victims’ complaints to “speculations about the possibility of girls and boys being promised marriage and then being deceived.”

Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of the country, announced on June 18th that the perpetrator of the news about the assault on several girls in Iran Shahr has been pursued and “the issue was not as it was claimed.”

These contradictions are even evident in the announcement of the number of victims of the assault. Judicial authorities initially stated that there were 3 complainants in the case, but the representative of Iranshahr in the Islamic Consultative Assembly changed the number of complainants to 4.

One of the victims’ brothers speaks about the incident, saying: “They have taken three people, but they have not been interrogated yet. One of the interrogated individuals has given the names of 5-4 people. We ask why you are not following up on these names, they say they are looking for them but they cannot find them. How is it possible for someone to be in Iran and they cannot find them? In short, they say they are looking for them but they want to formalize the case and dismiss it.”

The spread of the news of a group’s assault on girls in Iranshahr led to a protest march by the people of the city. They protested against the “insecurity” of the city on placards. Although this news was met with reactions from officials and public condemnation and protest, and even solidarity with the victims from local people and social media users, one of the concerns about this incident is the way families are dealing with these girls. Mohammad Baloch Zehi, a local official in the province, said in an interview with the media: “Most of the families of the victims of assault consider their daughters as a stain on their family’s honor.” According to him, in similar cases, some families have resorted to “physically eliminating” their daughters. In this regard, Mullah Abdulhamid, the Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, requested in an interview with ILNA that this issue be properly addressed so that the girls of Iranshahr can “

The story initially caught the attention of the media and the public, and various officials reacted to it. Although the issue was raised in the open session of the parliament, representatives such as Tayebeh Siavoshi, a member of the Women’s Faction, cast doubt on the matter by raising concerns such as the possibility of it being linked to “ethnic and tribal conflicts”.

Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, also requested by order of the governor to investigate the issue of group assault and report it accurately.

“After one month, according to the latest reports, the number of complainants is 5 and the number of detainees is 4. We asked the brother of one of the victims of sexual assault in Iran Shahr about the progress of his sister’s case: “The case has been put on hold for now and there is no news. We call and follow up in person, but they say the judge has not given orders. … Why? What is going on? Why aren’t they even interrogating? They say the prison won’t hand over this person, the judge won’t give orders to bring him in. They give us these excuses.”

Does the case of group rape victims in Iran Shahr end up with the fate of the acid attack case in Isfahan? From the rumors and the details of the story, it seems that once again the suspects from the “force and violence” gang will have influence over the independent judicial power.