Man Perpertrates Acid Attack Against Wife & Daughter

Someyah Mehri and her husband lived in Iran. The couple wed via an arranged marriage. Together Someyah and her husband brought two beautiful daughters into this world, Nazanin and Rana.

Someyah Asks for Divorce

Unhappy in her marriage, 29-year-old Someyah asked her husband, Amir Afghanipour, for a divorce in 2011. He was a thief and drug addict who often hit her when he became angry. On numerous occasions, Afghanipour also held his wife against her will.

She wanted out of the marriage, to have a chance to find happiness in her life. The request outraged her husband; he quickly denied her request to divorce.

In Iran, women do not have the right to divorce without prior approval for their husbands. Her husband may deny her request, at which time she has no choice except to continue on performing her wifely duties in the marriage.

Afghanipour Attacks Someyah, Kids With Acid

Days after Someyah’s request, Afghanipour snuck into the bedroom where she slept with the two girls, ages 3 and 5, with a bucket of corrosive acid. Without warning, the man tossed the acid onto the sleeping trio. He then escaped from the bedroom.

Mehri awoke in pain and began screaming out for help. “I’m burning,” “I’m burning,” she cried. Nazanin woke up as her mother screamed. The acid barely touched her skin. The younger Rana wasn't as lucky; the acid covered her body.

Afghanipour cut the electricity wires before attacking his wife and children with the acid.

The neighbors heard her cries and rushed to her aid with water, uncertain what had happened.

About this time, Afghanipour ran to his father-in-law’s home telling Reza Mehri his daughter had been electrocuted. When Reza rushed back to the couple’s home to check on his daughter. Reza told reporters he knew right away that his daughter’s husband was involved.

Injuries & Case Aftermath

Rana suffered burns to nearly 60% of her body. She also lost one of her eyes in the attack. Mehri lost sight in both of her eyes, with one fusing to her skin. She had discolored scars across her body and spent the next two years of her life battling a lung infection caused by the acid.

Mehri died from complications from the acid attack in 2013.

Rana and Nazanin are doing well today. Rana is now 13 years old and Nazanin is 15 years old. Rana is still undergoing surgeries to correct the damage caused to her skin by the acid. Medical officials said Rana would need 70 or more surgeries throughout her life to correct the damages to her skin caused by the acid.

Husband, Brother Charged in Attack

The unnamed husband was eventually charged in the attack on his wife and daughter -and later with Somayah’s murder. The man’s brother was also arrested and charged with conspiracy to help carry out the acid attack. The brother was later released without charge.

Islamic Laws

Under Iran’s Islamic penal code, Mehri could have asked for compensation and had the right to blind and disfigure her husband with acid. The Islamic law follows an eye-for-an-eye principle known as Qisas.

Acid Attacks in Iran

Acid attacks are not as common in Iran as they are in countries like India and Cambodia but nonetheless occur, most often to women who want out of relationships with their partners.

In 2019, Iran's Parliament changed laws regarding acid attacks, making them punishable by the death penalty if found guilty.

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