Girl, 13, is ‘beheaded by her father while she slept because had fallen in love with an 34-year-old man’had fallen in love with an 34-year-old man’

A 13-year-old Iranian girl has been beheaded in an honour killing by her father while she was sleeping, local media have claimed. 

Romina Ashrafi was killed with a farming sickle in her family home in Hovigh, Talesh county, as a form of ‘punishment’, reports said. 

She had planned to run away with an older man she had fallen in love with, Iran International TV said. 

The teenage girl initially fled the family home with 34-year-old Bahamn Khavari after her father expressed outrage at their plans to get married. 

But both of their families contacted authorities, leading security forces to conduct a five-day hunt before detaining the couple and taking Romina home. 

ULocal media reported that although Romina told authorities she would be in danger at home and feared for her life, they handed her back as required by Islamic Republic laws.