Rape of young girl in Iran met with muted response
The incident is raising questions of a double standard media censorship in Iran.
In late June, the Reformist Iranian paper Ghanoon reported an eyewitness account of a gang rape of an 11-year-old girl under a bridge in Tehran. Due to pressure from judicial officials, news outlets have not been able to follow up on the case and the crime was unfortunately largely overshadowed by the nuclear negotiations between Iran and world powers. Nevertheless, this tragic incident once again brought the issue of violence against women to the Iranian public’s attention.
Shahrzad Baba-Alipour, a journalist covering social issues for Ghanoon, interviewed a witness to this rape in a June story titled “I can’t say what I’ve seen.” News of the atrocious incident quickly circulated on Iranian social media, prompting several members of parliament to react. However, law enforcement authorities have up until now stayed silent about this crime.
