A 19-year-old woman from Iran was beheaded by her husband after she ran away from him a couple of days after they got married.

Iran International TV reports a 23-year-old man beheaded his wife in a violent honor killing after he tracked her down following 1 year of searching.

At around 10:30 pm on Sunday evening, the man handed himself over to the police in the city of Abadan holding a bloody knife and telling officers that he had killed his wife due to infidelity.

It is reported that the man beheaded his wife and left her decapitated body next to the Bahmanshir River.

The police released a statement about the incident, where they said:

A young bride ran away from home with another man two days after the wedding a year ago. The young groom searched for his wife for a year until he found her in Mashhad and gave himself to her under the pretext that he had forgiven her.

According to the law in Iran, a man can kill his wife without punishment if he catches her with another man.

The tragedy took place in the Khuzestan province of Iran.

The province is known for its honor killings.

Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the former Chief Justice of the Khuzestan Province, considers the honor killings in the province as a serious problem.

Jafari said:

Local custom allows these killings to take place, and the perpetrators of these killings are by no means fugitives. Also, unfortunately, honour killings take place in this province in a very tragic way, and the victims’ family does not normally demand the punishment of the murderer.

Violence against women is a serious political issue in the province of Khuzestan.