Khanali Soltani, 48, turned himself admitting he ‘stabbed his teenage daughter to death on a street’ in the Iranian city of Islamshahr, on April 17

Fatemeh Soltani, an 18-year-old living beautician killed by her dad, who accused her of revealing that he was having an affair to her mom

Teen reportedly, had been working secretly at a beauty salon, refusing to tell her family about her job, because she feared her father’s likely reaction

Khanali Soltani managed to find her workplace by booking an appointment through a number listed on her business’ Instagram page

When Fatemeh realized that her father was the one who made the appointment, she reportedly called her mother in distress

Salon coworkers and customers were present when the father lured his daughter outside the salon with a phone call before attacking with a knife and stabbing her 14 times

CCTV footage from the salon’s doorstep shows the killer drag the victim to the floor, kneel over her and stab repeatedly, with some reports claiming Fatemeh was decapitated before the stabbing frenzy

Khanali Soltani claimed he killed his daughter following a “family dispute”

However, the motive Khanali Soltani gave police was contradicted by the victim’s brother says their dad murdered his sister to cover up his infidelity

Fatemeh Soltani [photo], 18, was brutally murdered by her father in the street in the Iranian city of Eslamshahr, after she was accused of revealing that he was having an affair. Fatemeh reportedly had been living separately from her father and the family for some time due to domestic violence and had achieved financial independence 

A young beautician has been stabbed to death, On Thursday, April 17, 2025, in the streets of the Iranian city of Eslamshahr by her father, after she was accused of revealing that he was having an affair – to her mother. 
Fatemeh Soltani, an 18-year-old living in Iran, had been working secretly at a beauty salon, refusing to tell her family about her job due to her fear of her father’s reaction. 
But her father Khanali Soltani, 48, managed to find her workplace by booking an appointment through a number listed on her business’ Instagram page.  When Fatemeh realized that her father was the one who made the appointment, she reportedly called her mother in distress.  
Around at 9 a.m. that morning, the father went to her Fatemeh’s workplace – beauty salon. He lured her outside with a phone call, before launching a knife attack – killing her with multiple stabbings.

Khanali Soltani claimed he killed his daughter following a “family dispute”. Cops said he was angry that his daughter had achieved independence. He is contradicted by his son who said their dad killed his sister to cover his infidelities

The young woman reportedly, was killed outside a nail salon where she worked while she was taking a phone call. The killer had lured his daughter outside with the call.
Fatemeh was reportedly killed on the salon’s doorstep, with horrific CCTV footage showing her father dragging her to the floor, kneeling over her and stabbing her reportedly, 14 times. Some reports indicate the killer dad beheaded his daughter before the stabbing frenzy.
Furthermore, the slaying happened while people passed by on foot and in cars. The father reportedly only stopped when one passer-by screamed. 
Khanali Soltani turned himself in to the police after committing the crime and is currently in custody. Motives behind this particular femicide, according to media reports range from Fatemeh Soltani’s support for her mother against domestic violence, exposing her father’s infidelity and immoral behavior, to her desire for financial independence.
A close friend of the family told local media: ‘Fatemeh had been living separately from her father and the family for some time due to domestic violence and had achieved financial independence.’ 

Eyewitnesses [photo], as reported on social media, saw the father lure his daughter outside the salon, then attack her with a knife stabbing the teenager multiple times in front of employees, customers, pedestrians on the street and passing cars

Following his arrest, the killer told police he murdered his daughter following a “family dispute”.
Adding to the mixed messages Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, the police commander of Islamshahr city, told local media that the suspect was angry that his daughter had achieved independence.
However, the motive Khanali Soltani gave police was contradicted by the victim’s brother who has claimed that their dad murdered his sister to cover up his infidelity.
Fatemeh Soltani’s murder sparked a wave of outrage and sorrow online and among women’s rights activists. Many called for reforms in laws concerning domestic killings, especially those involving women. One major criticism was the legal gap in imposing strict penalties on fathers who murder their children. Under Iranian law, a father, as the ‘guardian of blood’, often faces reduced punishment if he kills his child. In many cases he is exempt from the retributive justice, and faces no penalty.

Fatemeh had been working secretly at a beauty salon, but fearing her father’s reaction, she’d not told her family about her job. Still he managed to find her workplace, booking an appointment through a number listed on her business’ Instagram page

The National Council of Resistance of Iran’s Women’s committee said in response to Soltani’s death: ‘The root of the violence against women and the primary cause of these murders and social tragedies lies in the misogynistic clerical regime, which, in over 46 years, has not even passed the bill to prevent violence against women in its parliament. 
‘In this regime, the abuse and even killing of women carries little consequence.
‘The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran has called on the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran and the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women to investigate this painful situation and to expel representatives of this misogynistic regime from international bodies.’
Local newspaper reports put the number of women were murdered by their relatives or family members between March and September last year, at 78. The numbers for 2021 – 2023, in cases of males killing female family members is estimated to be more than 165, with 27 incidents in the first quarter of 2023 alone, with ‘honor killings’ cited as a primary motive.
The caveat being that these figures reflect only reported murders, while the actual number is likely much higher.

The young beautician was stabbed, repeatedly on the street of the city of Islamshahr by her father, in the full glare of passersby. The killer dad managed to find his daughter’s workplace by booking an appointment through a number listed on her business’ Instagram page

The account of Fatemeh’s decapitation is reminiscent of a 2022 honor killing, when the image of an Iranian man grinning and swinging the severed head of his wife as he paraded the streets, after another ‘honor killing’, sparked outrage.
The unnamed man beheaded his 17-year-old wife, identified as Mona Heydari, in the southwestern city of Ahvaz after repatriating her from Turkey where she had sought refuge from their troubled union. He then carried her severed head around the streets.
Mona Heydari was just 12 when she was married off to her cousin. The couple shared a three-year-old son by the time she was killed. The teenage wife allegedly fled to Turkey after her family discovered that she had an affair.  She was subsequently tracked to that country and brought back to Iran by her father and her husband.
Authorities arrested the unnamed husband and his brother on charges of killing Mona in revenge for adultery and leaving him.

Outrageous footage of the grinning man who beheaded his wife, in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, then paraded her severed head on the streets. Victim was identified as 17-year-old cousin, Mona Heydari. When he married her four years earlier, she was 12

The gruesome footage of the husband grinning as he held a knife in one hand, holding his wife’s decapitated head in the another hand, shocked many people in Iran where the legal age for marriage is 13.
The outpouring of shock and rage over the killing, saw many people demanding social and legal reforms, stating that ‘legal loopholes’ was ‘paving the way for honor killings’.