An Eye for an Eye
One Iranian woman’s fight for retribution after being blinded by an acid attack.
Filmmaker: Kaveh Kazemi
Ameneh Bahrami was once an independent Iranian woman living in Tehran.
In November 2004, her life changed forever when Majid Movahedi, a rejected suitor, threw acid into her face, scarring her and blinding her in both eyes.
For four years Ameneh fought hard for the right to have her attacker tried under Islamic law which allows for victims’ retribution.
In November 2008, an Iranian court ruled that the punishment for her attacker should replicate his crime – acid should be dropped in his eyes and, if she chose, Ameneh could administer the punishment.
The film – following Ameneh as she pursues her case through its last legal stages whilst also enduring medical treatment in an attempt to regain her sight – sheds a rare light on life and law in Iran.
Update:
In February 2009 Movahedi was sentenced to be blinded in both eyes.
But in July 2011, a state-run television website reported that Majid Movahedi has been pardoned from being blinded as punishment.
“With the request of Ameneh Bahrami, the acid attack victim, Majid, who was sentenced for ‘qesas’ [‘eye for an eye’ justice] was pardoned at the last minute” after she decided to forgo her right, the website said.
Bahrami told the ISNA news agency she pardoned her attacker because “God talks about ‘qesas’ in the Koran but he also recommends pardon since pardon is greater than ‘qesas'”.
“I struggled for seven years for this verdict to prove to people that the person who hurls acid should be punished through ‘qesas’, but today I pardoned him because it was my right.,” she said.
“I did it for my country, since all other countries were looking to see what we would do.”