On social media in Iran and abroad, there is a lot of attention for the death of 20-year-old Ali Fazeli Monfared. The young man, known to friends as Alireza, was kidnapped and killed by his half-brother and two cousins, according to Iranian LGBTI organization 6Rang. That happened on May 4. The half-brother would have discovered shortly before that Fazeli Monfared was homosexual.
The twenties lived in Ahwaz, a city in the conservative southwest of Iran. He is said to have a friend in Turkey and had planned to flee to Turkey shortly, and then apply for asylum in Europe with his friend.
Fazeli Monfared had recently received a document stating that he was exempt from military service because of his sexual orientation. His half-brother saw that document and decided to proceed with an honor killing, 6Rang writes in a press release.
The half-brother is said to have picked up Fazeli Monfared by car and driven to an abandoned area. Foreign media report that the boy was beheaded there by his half-brother and two cousins. His body would have been left under a palm tree.
According to 6Rang, the three family members have since been arrested on suspicion of murder.
‘Behind closed doors’
Honor killings against people in the LGBTI community are more common in the region, says NOS correspondent Daisy Mohr. “We don’t always hear about it because it often takes place behind closed doors. Honor killings are certainly not always in the news; this story has come out via social media.”
“It underlines that society in Iran still has great difficulty with people from the LGBTI community. Close family and friends are often an even greater danger than the authorities.”
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