Romina Ashrafi was just 14 when she was allegedly
killed by her own father.
She was allegedly
decapitated with a sickle while she
slept.
She had run away with an older man, but
the police found them.
The news had barely settled when reports
of
two more cases emerged within just a few days.
One woman said to have been killed by
her father and another
reportedly by her husband.
The two
suspects
have not made public comment on the
cases, but they're in detention.
While such deaths are treated as murder,
some Iranian media outlets and activists
see them
only as examples of honour-related killings.
But what is honour killing?
To put it simply, it 
is the killing of a family member -
usually a woman - 
who is perceived to have brought shame
on her relatives.
It happens worldwide and is believed to
be the cause of death for around
5,000 women and girls each year.
Iran is one of the few countries with no
protective law to support women facing
violence.
Murder is punishable by death in Iran,
but sentences for fathers and
grandfathers of those they have killed
tend to be more lenient.
What's been unusual in the surge of
numbers
is the fact that social media is being
used. I think these numbers have always
been there -
arguably they say that 20 of all murders
in iran are honour killing related.
What suddenly has changed is that people are
using social media - they're messaging
each other or reading the news.
There are no official figures to
indicate the number of honour killings in
Iran,
however some Iranian media reports
put the number up to 450 every year.
The recent examples have
triggered an
angry debate on social media.
You are also seeing
people expressing their dismay through
cartoons and
memes. For example the death
notice for
Romina Ashrafi does not feature a photo
of her, but a rose.
And that rose was actually very symbolic
of her
in these cartoons and memes and dark
humour
to highlight the realities of honour
killings in Iran.
Activists say the problem is rooted in
systematic discrimination against women
in Iran.
It brought
the conversation to parliament -
this holistic but still problematic
law for child protection passed after
well over a decade.
The law has been helpful with this
discussion about
protecting children from abuse but at
the same time it hasn't addressed a lot
of issues
such as child marriages
death sentences for juveniles.
Another government bill
aimed at offering more protection to
women against violence
has been in legal limbo for almost a
decade.
If upheld it will need to be approved by
a largely conservative parliament.
