Tragic self-immolations of women in Dishmok – During the last six months, 11 women have set themselves ablaze in the small city of Dishmok, in Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad Province, southwestern Iran.
Early marriages, domestic violence against women and girls, and poverty are among the main reasons of self-immolations of women in Dishmok.
One of the examples of the tragic self-immolations of women in Dishmok is the case of Soraya. She was married at age 11 to a 12-year-old boy. They had a lot of differences. Soraya’s husband threatened her. “Either leave or I will kill your little child.” A terrified Soraya goes to her room and douses herself with kerosene and sets herself alight.
Another young woman by the name of Kafi set herself ablaze since she got constantly brutalized by her father-in-law and brother-in-law. Kafi died at hospital after 20 days.
Ziba, a pregnant woman in Deli Village of Dishmok, set herself on fire and died with her unborn fetus. Ziba had two other kids, four and seven years old, who were at home when Ziba self-immolated.
A 17-year-old girl in Dishmok committed self-immolation in August, and two others, 14 and 17 years old, set themselves alight in April. (The state-run ILNA news agency- August 11, 2019 and the state-run KABNA news website- May 16, 2019)
One of the women of Dishmok says, “The women here are badly beaten (at home), so they set themselves on fire. There are many examples in the surrounding villages.” (The state-run ROKNA news agency – October 6, 2019)
Mohammad Noroozi-Nia, director of Dishmok’s Education Department, said, “The rate of self-immolations of women in Dishmok is high.”
He explained, “The main reason for Dishmok girls dropping out of school is early marriage which is done based on the age permitted by Shari’a.” (The state-run Tabnak website – May 31, 2019)
