Atefeh Rajabi Sahaaleh was born in the Iranian city of Neka in 1988, When she was 4 or 5, her mother died, and her father - an unemployed drug addict - was unable to take care of her. She was sent to live with elderly grandparents, who, because of their age, were unable to always adequately supervise her. She learned to like walking through the town on her own - a habit that made her conspicuous and brought her to the attention of the morals police. When she was 13, she was arrested for the first time. Her exact 'crime' is uncertain, but she was reportedly seen sitting talking to a boy in a car. She was tried, and as a punisment she was publicly flogged (100 lashes) and sent to Bahshahr Prison for a short time. After her release, Atefeh bitterly complained to other girls she knew that she had been beaten and raped by her jailers. Atefeh eventually became involved with a 51 year-old taxi driver named Ali Darabi. Atefeh may have hoped that Darabi's status as a former member of the Revolutionary Guards would protect her from the morals police. Unknown persons, however, reported the relationship to the authorities, and Atefeh and Darabi were both arrested. There was no transcript made of her trial, and she was given no legal representation. She was convicted of "acts incompatible with chastity." As a repeat offender, she was sentenced to death. On August 15, 2004, Atefeh was taken to the public square of Neka. There was no gallows, so a noose was attached to a construction crane. The noose was placed around her neck and Atefeh was hoisted into the air by the crane to slowly strangle to death (in a convention hanging, the body is dropped sharply with the result that the neck is broken and death is almost instant - but in Atefeh's case she was lifted, not dropped, and would have taken several minutes to die). After her death, her body was left on public display for an hour. When international human righhts groups complained about a 16 year-old being hanged, Iranian authorities immediately began claiming she was actually 22. But her family showed her birth and death certificates to Western journalists, proving she was only 16. As for Ali Darabi he was convicted and given 95 lashes and released. In the West, a 51 year-old man having sex with a 16 year-old would be considered a predator and the girl a victim. But in Iran, the female is usually considered the instigator of any sexual misdeed. Iran is second only to China in the number of executions carried out annually. It is also one of the few countries that still executes minors.
