Eye for an eye: Woman blinded by scorned lover granted permission to throw acid into his eyes by Iran court

A woman who was blinded when a scorned lover threw acid in her eyes has the chance to get a gruesome revenge today. A court in Iran has given permission for 32 year-old Ameneh Bahrami to get her own back by pouring acid in the eyes of her attacker, a fellow student at Tehran University. The court's OId Testament ruling - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth - has sparked controversy even in Iran where medieval justice still holds sway. But Ameneh still appears bent on revenge


Revenge: Ameneh Bahrami was left with horrific scars after Majid Movahedi threw sulphuric acid in her eyes after he had begged her in vain to marry him. She is seen here holding photos of how she used to look

Twenty-seven year old Majid Movahedi threw sulphuric acid in her eyes at a bus-stop in 2004 after he had begged her in vain to marry him. For months he had stalked her and she was left blind and disfigured. She later underwent 19 operations.The court awarded her £19,000 in compensation and Majid went to jail. But Ameneh did not want the money. She wanted her attacker to suffer the same anguish she was forced to endure for more than six years. 'His mother phoned my parents. She asked for mercy. She said that Majid would always work for me if he could keep his eyes. But now it's too late,' she was reported as saying yesterday.


Twisted: Majid Movahedi had stalked Ameneh before his heinous crime

She has received death threats because of her determination to exact revenge. 'The police have told me not to go out on the street alone,' she said. 'My parents are scared. They think the judges are wrong.' Arrangements have been made for Ameneh to inject the acid into her attacker's eyes as he lies in a Tehran hospital under an aesthetic at midday today. Twenty drops in each eye.At the last moment Ameneh could still change her mind. But yesterday she said: 'I'm very happy. After six years I'm getting justice. But we are both losers because we have both suffered greatly.'


Painful evidence: Ameneh Bahrami's clothing and shoes destroyed by acid are kept by her family in their Tehran apartment

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386809/Eye-eye-Woman-blinded-scorned-lover-given-permission-throw-acid-eyes-Iran-court.html#ixzz1MKHrfBLI


Shocking! I can't imagine how this woman must have suffered but could I do the same to another human being? No I couldn't

Two wrongs don't make a right

Does she really think its going to make any difference, apart from the fact she is going to have to live with what she did afterwards. What he did was horrific, but I think if she goes ahead with this she will live to regret it. She needs help and understanding and a sense of purpose apart from the one she has obviously nutured all this time. Hatred so all consuming can only destroy the person who feels it.

What a lovely system Sharia is!

But then again, I wouldn't expect any different from a Religion speeding head first towards the 9th century!

Interesting to see this decried as barbarism by the same people who advocate similarly brutal punishments for sex offenders etc

John wrote:Interesting to see this decried as barbarism by the same people who advocate similarly brutal punishments for sex offenders etc

Hi John x

I know what you are saying and it's a tough one for me. I have mixed views regarding capital/physical punishment. In this case though what will be achieved by allowing this woman to put acid in this man's eyes other than revenge?

I have yet to see any acceptable physical punishment for sex offenders and particularly paedophiles. If it was a simple as removing their bits and pieces to be honest, I'd be all for it. This action might curb the physical urge but what about the psychological ones? When it comes to the abuse of children, be it sexual, emotional or physical, most people react stronger than where adults are concerned.

John wrote:Interesting to see this decried as barbarism by the same people who advocate similarly brutal punishments for sex offenders etc

Assuming that aimed at me (don't be shy, I don't often take offence for people having a different opinion to me) this shows the difference in Sharia (from the 9th Century) and proper Justice!

This is purely for "Revenge" (from the Religion of Peace) whereas the BNP advocate Capital Punishment for sex offenders for a number of reasons!

1) To act as a deterrent (let's see how many people want to fiddle with kids, when they've seen a few swing)

2) To absolutely stop ANY re-offending, as there are numerous cases where we are told these perverts are "better" only for them to ruin more lives!

and

3) To save us spending £30,000 a year (or £60,000 if their in solitary) for the rest of their lives!

An Iranian woman blinded and disfigured with acid has spared her attacker from being blinded in the same way himself.

Ameneh Bahrami lost her sight in 2004 when acid was thrown in her face after she rejected Majid Movahedi's marriage proposal.

Using the principle of 'retribution' permitted under Iran's Islamic law he was sentenced to prison and to be blinded in one eye himself. But as Ms Bahrami stood in the hospital to watch the doctor put the drops of acid in Movahedi's eye, she asked to have him spared.

"It is best to pardon when you are in a position of power," she said, explaining that she did not want revenge. The sobbing man said his victim was "very generous". "I couldn't imagine being blinded by acid," Movahedi said, as he wept against a wall.

In Iran it is a legal right for victims to ask for a strict enforcement of Islamic law, under which an attempt is made to reach a settlement with victims or their families.


Ms Bahrami with pictures of herself before the attack

If no agreement is reached, then "qisas," or eye-for-an-eye retribution, is enforced. In the trial for this case, the court ruling allowed the woman to have a doctor pour a few drops of the corrosive chemical in one of Movahedi's eyes as retribution.

A few months after the November 2008 ruling, Ms Bahrami told a radio station in Spain, where she travelled for treatment of her wounds, that she was happy with the sentence. "I am not doing this out of revenge, but rather so that the suffering I went through is not repeated," she said in the interview. After undergoing treatment in Barcelona, Ms Bahrami initially recovered 40% of the vision in one eye, but she later lost all her sight.

Amnesty International has criticised the Iranian law that allows victims of such attacks to deliberately blind the assailants under medical supervision. In a statement, the human rights group said the practice was a cruel punishment that amounts to torture.

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16041023

Thank goodness she changed her mind at the last minute. I know this woman has suffered terribly but to seek revenge in this way? How do you live with yourself afterwards?