By Azada Tran
Editor’s note: Please be advised this story discusses sensitive details of rape and assault.
Authorities in Iran are failing to pursue justice for an Afghan refugee, who was allegedly raped at knifepoint and threatened by a man known to her, because of her visa status.
Masooma*, 38, fled to Iran with her five children 1.5 years ago after being arrested and threatened by the Taliban in Afghanistan for training women in sport.
She was walking to her home in a city outside Tehran in January this year when an Iranian shopkeeper from her neighbourhood where she shopped drove by. He offered her a lift – he was going in the same direction. Masooma gratefully accepted, for what was a quick drive would have been a long walk home.
“After a few minutes, I realized he was driving in the wrong direction. I asked him, ‘Where are you going, sir?” She said.
He replied that he was avoiding the traffic.
“That’s when I noticed he was heading toward a deserted area. But the more I protested and tried to get out, the tighter he gripped me – he drove with one hand and used the other to hold my hands firmly, preventing me from escaping the car.”
Masooma was terrified that she was being kidnapped and would be tortured for money. She had heard stories of Afghan migrants being held hostage for ransoms in Iran amid rising anti-immigrant sentiment. One report she’d heard told of Afghan migrants without identification papers being targeted by Iranian and Pakistani nationals, who send videos of them being tortured to their families, for ransoms ranging from 50 to 300 million tomans (around US$7,000).
She started to scream for help, but the man allegedly pulled out a knife and held it to her throat, threatening to “make her pay” if she made a noise again.
When they reached a deserted area, she lost any hope of anyone hearing her anyway and she sat in silence. She estimated that after another 20 minutes of driving, he pulled over.
“He said, ‘I have been watching you for a long time and I like you.’ When I tried to escape, he strangled me with my scarf,” Masooma alleged.
“I was so scared that I didn’t know what to do. I was only thinking about my eleven-year-old son – who would take care of him if I died?”
The man allegedly told Masooma he’d kill her if she resisted, before allegedly forcing himself on her and raping her. Afterwards, she was terrified he would kill or abandon her there. She begged him to consider her children who would be alone without her, and she promised to not speak of what happened.
He drove her back to their neighbourhood, allegedly threatening to rape and kill her daughters if she ever said a word about it to anyone.
Visa red tape trumps rape
Documents and evidence reviewed by Rukhshana Media confirmed this harrowing incident. A forensic examination verified the assault, and an initial complaint filed with a branch of the Tehran Provincial Prosecutor’s Office corroborated the details of the case. The shopkeeper accused of rape is identified and named in the documents.
It also stated that the victim’s underwear has been sent to the forensic laboratory for further testing. Masooma was told it could take 40 days for the examination results to become clear.
However, even if the results return positive, her hands are tied. It is unlikely she will be able to pursue legal action through Iran’s judicial and security institutions due to her lack of a Sana Code because her visa in Iran has expired.
It’s been a battle for her to even be heard.
When Masooma went to the police station in the immediate aftermath of the assault, her complaint was initially not filed because she lacked valid residency documents.
An Iranian lawyer, who requested anonymity for fear of repercussions, told Rukhshana Media that access to the legal process in Iran is contingent on having a Sana Code. Without it, individuals like Masooma are effectively barred from pursuing justice through official channels.
The lawyer said without a Sana Code, individuals are unable to hire a lawyer or navigate the legal process within Iran’s judicial institutions.
This requirement creates a significant barrier for those without proper documentation, leaving them without access to justice or legal representation.
The lawyer added that not only might Masooma’s case be dismissed by Iran’s judicial and security institutions, but she could also face the risk of forced deportation due to her lack of legal residency.
In a document reviewed by Rukhshana Media, the branch investigator of the General and Revolutionary Court of a city** gave Masooma five days to appear at the local police station to provide further explanation regarding her case.
The demand placed Masooma in a precarious position – engaging with authorities could also lead to her deportation instead of justice for the assault she endured.
The letter also stated: “In addition, the named individual is required to visit the electronic judicial services offices to register their name and submit the registration form to the branch before appearing in person.”
Justice only delivered for a hefty fee
The same day that Masooma was raped, after her assailant returned her to her neighbourhood with threats, she went to the police. But the police said she couldn’t file the complaint because she didn’t have a residence permit.
“I escaped from the Taliban so that, God forbid, they wouldn’t harm me and my young daughters, but to my misfortune and bad luck, I was raped here,” she said.
She believes it is in part becuase she does not have a husband or male relative here.
“I wish I had a guardian,” she said.
Two of her daughters work to help with the living expenses but Masooma has not managed to find work in her skill set.- as an athlete and sports trainer.
The day after her assault, she went to another shopkeeper in her neighbourhood to ask for help to lodge a complaint. But her alleged assailant saw her and gave her a beating in public.
“I had no peace of mind as to why this had happened to me, as well as thousands of other questions. So the next day, I went to a shop next door to the man [who attacked me] to ask him as to why his neighbour had done this to me, but the man came in screaming and saying, ‘What are you doing here? Do you want to insult my reputation?’ He attacked me so brutally with punches and kicks that I lost consciousness.”
She was taken to hospital by a passersby. Swelling and bruising around the victim’s left eye can be seen on the photos seen by Rukhshana Media.
Masooma said the police in Tehran have asked her to hire a lawyer to proceed with her case. However, she cannot afford to hire one.
“The police officers told me I needed to renew my visa and passport first, then get a Sana code and hire a lawyer. I spoke to several lawyers, each of whom demanded over 200 million tomans (around $4,500) to handle my case,” she said.
“I can’t even afford my monthly rent. How am I supposed to renew my visa and passport or hire a lawyer for 200 million tomans?”
Masooma’s two daughters aged 21 and 19, who are seamstresses in a clothing factory in a neighboring province of Tehran. each earn a monthly salary of five million tomans ($120). With their meager wages, they struggle to make ends meet and support their family.
Legal Afghan migrants face discrimination
For months, campaigns calling for the expulsion of Afghan migrants from Iran have been spreading on social media. Complaints about police mistreatment of migrants are also widespread. This has made Afghan migrants even more vulnerable to abuse and not seeking recourse from authorities.
Even Afghan migrants with valid and legal identification documents have complained about the behavior of Iranian authorities and police towards them.
One source living in Iran told Rukhshana Media: “Every day, they come up with a new law for us. One day they want a ‘faragir’ code, the next day a Sana code, then a ‘fida’ code. Our whole lives have been spent paying fees, getting codes, and standing in line. In the end, the police, whenever they catch our young people, insult and beat them, then directly push them across the border.”
Masooma’s journey from Afghanistan to Iran
Masooma’s legal case has not made any progress, putting more vulnerable girls and women at risk with every day that justice is not done.
Her visa extensions are already exhausted, having already done it three times since arriving in Iran in August 2023. To extend again, she would have to return to Afghanistan to renew her visa. But having already spent time in Taliban detention, Masooma is terrified to do so.
Furthermore, once she leaves Iran, she will have to pay fines for her expired visa and the days she and her children lived in Iran without valid documents, which can be as much as 400,000 Iranian tomans per day. In short, Masooma and children would owe fines amounting to hundreds of millions of tomans – an impossible sum for them.
Masooma lost her father at a young age and was forced at 16 years old by her remaining family into an arranged marriage with a close relative.
He died three years ago due to a drug addiction.
She was athletic and always loved sport. Once the first Taliban regime was toppled in 2001, she became a fitness trainer in Kabul, teaching and training in a fitness club in west Kabul. However, once the Taliban returned in 2021 and eventually closed gyms to women and girls, her source of income almost dried up.
To make ends meet, she would secretly train women and girls in her home.
“In 2021, I was working at a sports club with a partner. Not many girls came to train, but I still earned a little income from there, which helped me meet the needs of my young daughters and son,” she said.
“Every day, the Taliban would come and ask, ‘What are you doing here, woman?’ I would make excuses, saying I was there with my son because he couldn’t come without me.
“Eventually, the Taliban forces threatened me, telling me not to come back to the gym, or they would take me away.”
Finally, in late February 2023, Taliban intelligence forces entered Masooma’s home and arrested her on the charge of gathering women to protest.
She said that the Taliban transferred her to the group’s intelligence center in the Company area of western Kabul.
“At 10am, there was a knock at the gate to our yard. When I went to check, Taliban intelligence forces entered my home without permission, shouting that we, the women of Dasht-e-Barchi, were gathering to protest against them,” she said.
“I kept telling them that the women were here for training and that I only train those with back pain or joint problems. I have no man in my family, and I’m forced to work to provide for my children.
“But the Taliban insisted that I get into their Ranger vehicle and accompany them to the police station.
“They took my phone, tied my hands with a piece of cloth, and made me sit on a chair. A few of the Taliban soldiers kept asking me what I was doing,” she said.
“I kept telling them that I am an athlete and that I only gather women in my home for training, and through that, I support my household.
“They didn’t believe me. One of them was recording with his phone, insisting that I confess to gathering women in my home to protest against the Taliban. But I didn’t confess. I just begged them to let me go so I could be with my children.”
In more than three years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, the detention of women has been widespread, often accompanied by well documented torture, harassment and mistreatment including rape and sexual abuse as a tool to silence and shame women.
Masooma said Taliban intelligence forces checked her phone and apparently did not find any evidence of what they accused her of. After this, she was transferred her to the 13th district police station. There, she was forced to sign a commitment letter stating that she would no longer engage in sports. And then she was released.
“In the end, they threatened me that if I continued with sports, they would arrest and imprison me again,” she said.
Alone and terrified in Iran
Since the assault in Iran, Masooma said she often has nightmares at night and cries alone. Concerned about her own safety and that of her daughters, she doesn’t know where to turn for refuge.
She cannot understand how the man who attacked her and threatened her family has not been investigated, let alone arrested.
“Being an immigrant is hard. If I weren’t a migrant, that cruel man would have been arrested and would have faced justice for his actions,” she said.
“I don’t understand why, even though everyone saw him slap me in front of the neighbour’s shop, he hasn’t been detained.
“But now, to seek justice, I’m supposed to pay several hundred million tomans, which I simply can’t afford. This is the tragedy of us Afghan women.”
Note*: Name changed due to security reasons.
Note**: City not disclosed for identification and security reasons
