Tehran, Aug 1 : An Iranian woman has declared that she doesn't want to see 'eye for an eye' justice done towards the man who blinded her in an acid attack Ameneh Bahrami spared Majid Mohavedi from the same fate that she suffered after he poured liquid on her face, taking her sight, when she turned down his marriage proposal, reports Daily Mail.
She had been due to mete out the punishment to him but spared him at the last minute, Iranian media reported today.Bahrami was blinded in 2004 when Mohavedi poured acid onto her face after she spurned his hand in marriage. In 2008, a court sentenced Mohavedi to be blinded in both eyes for taking away Ms Bahrami's sight, using the principle of retribution permitted under Iran's Islamic law.
'I have been trying for seven years to get the qisas [retribution] sentence, but today I decided to pardon him,' Ms Bahrami was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
She said the international interest in the case was one reason for deciding to drop her demand for the sentence of retribution to be carried out: 'It seemed like the entire world was waiting to see what we did.' The case attracted international media attention, and the rights group Amnesty International urged Iran not to inflict the retributive form of punishment.
The concept of 'qisas' also applies to other crimes in Iran, such as murder.A victim's family can demand the death of a convicted murderer or commute the sentence in return for financial compensation from the criminal.
Tehran prosecutor general Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi praised Ms Bahrami's move as a 'courageous act', and said the judiciary had until then been determined to carry out the sentence.
'Everything was ready for carrying out the qisas on Majid's eyes, but Ameneh pardoned him on the brink of the execution of the sentence,' Dolatabadi told ISNA.
'Ameneh is seeking compensation for other injuries inflicted on her,' he added, but did not give any further details. A lawyer for Mohavedi had previously said his family would have great difficulty in finding the amount of money sought by Mr Bahrami to commute the sentence, as their only asset was a house in Tehran.
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