Babak Khorramdin, an Iranian director, was murdered and chopped into pieces by his parents after having a row over his unmarried status. The dismembered parts of the body were found stuffed in a suitcase by the investigating authorities.
The 47-year-old filmmaker, after graduating with a master's degree in Cinema from the University of Tehran, had shifted to London in 2010. Khorramdin made several short films during his stint in London. Among those are Crevice and Oath to Yashar, which relayed his personal experience of coming to a new country away from his family.
Khorramdin's Chopped Body Was Stuffed in Trash Bags and Suitcase
The Arab News reported that Khorramdin, who returned to Iran to teach film, had an argument with his father regarding his marital status.
Describing the murder, Mohammad Shahriari, head of the Tehran Criminal Court, said that Khorramdin's father said in his confession that he anaesthetized the filmmaker. Later, he took Khorramdin's body to the bathroom with the help of his wife, where the couple chopped their son into pieces.
After committing the grisly act, the father collected the body parts in trash bags and suitcase before throwing them in three trash cans. The incident took place at their home. The chopped body parts were found by the authorities in Ekbatan, western Tehran, on Sunday.
According to the Iranian police evidence of the murder was found at the family's home following which Khorramdin's mother and father have been arrested.
Was Khorramdin Murder 'Honor Killing'?
Speaking to the Daily Mail about the 'Honour Killing', Jason Brodsky, a Middle East analyst and editor at Iran International TV, said: "I think the horrific death of Babak Khorramdin is only the latest example of a long pattern of domestic violence that we have seen in Iran."
He added: "It follows the tragic death of Ali Fazeli Monfared, who was killed by family members after they found out he was gay. That is not to mention the case last year of Romina Ashfrafi, a 14-year-old girl who was beheaded by her father in an honor killing."
Following the murder of Ashfrafi in May 2020, Iran had passed a law aimed at protecting children from domestic violence and honor killings. Under Iran's Islamic penal code, fathers are considered guardians and, unlike mothers, are exempt from capital punishment for murdering their children.
