Arab News

LONDON: The remains of an Iranian film director have been found after he was allegedly murdered and dismembered by his parents.

Babak Khorramdin, who spent time working in London, was the victim of a so-called “honor killing” after an argument with his father over his unmarried status.

Mohammad Shahriari, head of the Tehran Criminal Court, said Khorramdin’s father confessed to drugging and murdering his son, before cutting up his body and leaving it in the trash.

Human remains were discovered in trash bags and a suitcase in Ekbatan, western Tehran, on Sunday, where the family lived. Iranian police said further evidence of the murder was found at the family home. Both parents have been arrested.

Khorramdin, 47, graduated from the University of Tehran in 2009 with a master’s degree in cinema and moved to London a year later.

Jason Brodsky, a Middle East analyst and editor at Iran International TV, told the Daily Mail: “I think the horrific death of Babak Khorramdin is only the latest example of a long pattern of domestic violence that we have seen in Iran.

“It follows the tragic death of Ali Fazeli Monfared, who was killed by family members after they found out he was gay. That is not to mention the case last year of Romina Ashfrafi, a 14-year-old girl who was beheaded by her father in an honor killing,” he said.

Despite a child protection law being passed in 2020 in Iran, honor killings and domestic violence continue.

“This is an area the international community needs to address with Iran,” Brodsky said.