A 25-year-old woman in Iran, Goli Koohkan, is facing execution after enduring years of abuse in a forced marriage she entered at just 12 years old. Unless she can raise £80,000 in “blood money” to pay her late husband’s family, she will be hanged.
Goli’s ordeal began when her parents married her off to her cousin without her consent. By 13, she was pregnant. At 18, after years of beatings and isolation, she was arrested and sentenced to qisas — Iran’s retribution-in-kind law — for her husband’s death.
According to Iran Human Rights (IHR), the killing happened during a desperate attempt to stop her husband from beating her and their five-year-old son.
“Goli called her husband’s cousin for help. A fight broke out, and her husband was unintentionally killed. She immediately called an ambulance and told the authorities everything,” said a source who spoke to IHR.
Despite her cooperation and history of abuse, Goli was sentenced to death by hanging and sent to Gorgan Central Prison in northern Iran. After seven years behind bars, she is now the longest-serving female inmate there.
Under Iranian law, a victim’s family can pardon the accused if they receive financial compensation known as “blood money.” Her husband’s relatives are demanding £80,000 — an impossible sum for Goli, whose own family has abandoned her. Her former cellmates have launched a campaign to raise the funds before December, when the deadline for forgiveness expires. So far, less than 2% has been collected.
Born into Iran’s Baluch minority, one of the country’s most marginalised communities, Goli has lived her entire life without official identity documents. Human rights groups say her case reflects Iran’s systemic discrimination against women and minorities — where child marriage is legal and domestic violence protections are almost nonexistent.
A source close to her told IHR:
“Goli was only 12 when she was forced to marry. At 13 she gave birth at home without medical care. Her husband constantly beat her, forced her to work long hours on farms and cut off her contact with everyone she knew.”
Another former cellmate told IranWire:
“She almost died giving birth. Her pelvis was too small, but her husband’s violence only got worse. He pressured her to have more children.”
Several times, Goli tried to escape the abuse but was always dragged back. Once, when she fled to her parents for help, her father refused to protect her, saying:
“You left for your husband’s house in white clothes, and you’ll return to the cemetery in a white shroud.”
Iran executes more women than any other country in the world — many after unfair trials and under duress. Human rights advocates warn that Goli’s execution could happen within weeks if the ransom isn’t raised in time.
