According to the Balochistan Human Rights Group, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, a 34-year-old Baloch woman named Soudabeh Irandegani, married and a mother of six, was released from Iranshahr prison after public donations covered the blood money demanded by the victim’s family. She had been arrested by security forces on October 28, 2022, on charges of “murder” and sentenced to death by the criminal court.
Reportedly, before her arrest, Ms. Irandegani had a verbal altercation with another woman, whose child was later killed by another individual—a minor. To protect the child from prosecution, Irandegani took the blame for the murder.
The victim’s family had initially demanded 2 billion tomans in blood money. With the support of citizens both inside and outside Iran, the amount was eventually raised and paid, leading to her release.
Ms. Soudabeh Irandegani comes from an impoverished family and could not afford the blood money. Many of her relatives and close family members have been killed, injured, or imprisoned by the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
It is also noteworthy that Ms. Irandegani’s sister, Nazila Irandegani, a 25-year-old woman who was four months pregnant, was shot and killed by security forces at a checkpoint in Khash on August 6, 2024. Her husband, who was with her at the time, was arrested and remains missing. Two of her young children were injured in the shooting, and two of her cousins were also either killed or wounded in the incident.
