Blood Feud"

Blood Feud" is an ancient and outdated tradition that has lost its color and face of the past but still persists. In this tradition, commonly observed in provinces such as Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, as well as parts of Fars, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah, a girl from the family or tribe of the murderer marries a boy from the family of the victim to put an end to conflicts leading to tribal and ethnic killings. The purpose is to permanently end the cycle of vengeance and retaliatory killings.

Certainly, no expectation of happiness or mutual love and understanding can be associated with such marriages. In this ancient custom, sometimes not only the bride but also the groom becomes a victim of this wrong tradition because he may not be willing to be part of this union. However, since men in society have more civil and legal freedom supported by customs and laws, they can, if willing, have multiple marriages.

As the "Blood Feud" bride is considered a substitute for the blood, ignoring and intentionally hurting her, and sometimes the children born from her, are considered common and natural.

This type of marriage can be called "Life with Torture”. In other words, the girl "Blood Feud" pays the price of murder by enduring a difficult life throughout her years, even though she had no role in the killing and is only paying for the crime of being a woman.

Of course, among the recounted memories, sometimes the bride, depending on her higher social rank or family status relative to the groom, or due to luck and popularity, might have a better chance of a normal life. Some narratives also mention that if the groom had genuine affection for the bride and treated his wife with love, he, too, would be forced to endure similar hardships from his own family and tribe.

“Mah-Tala” (means Moon of Gold), the protagonist of our true story, was chosen for a Blood Feud marriage after a series of retaliatory killings between two tribes over agricultural and irrigation land disputes. After the mourning of several families for the selected Blood Feud bride by the white-bearded elders of both tribes, one day, when “Mah-Tala" was 7 years old, busy picking flowers in the lush plains of Lorestan province, her father called her. “Mah-Tala” raised her hand above her eyes to see her father beyond the brightness that dazzled her eyes, smiled, and ran towards him with her red-skirted dress and yellow "Mina" (a yellow silk fabric worn on the head in local attire) fluttering in the wind.

Her father, with sorrowful eyes, took “Mah-Tala" in his arms, kissed her, and hugged her for the last time, smelling her and walking towards a group of white-bearded elders who were waiting.

He lowered “Mah-Tala” from his embrace, mounted the horse, telling her that like any other girl, she must go to the house of fate. Before the girl could ask a question, she saw her mother's tearful eyes under the “Siyah-Chador” (The large black tent of nomad tribes in Iran). Apparently, it had been too late.

When they took the bride away, the cries and wails of her family echoed from under the “Siyah-Chador”. The flowers held by “Mah-Tala" fell on the ground in front of the tent, and she, still dazed and bewildered, didn't know where she was being taken.

In the groom's house, the conditions were a bit different; “Mah-Tala's" father was a “Khan” (leader of the tribe). He was influential within the tribe, and the connection with his daughter was favorable for the groom's family and distant enough. If circumstances were different from blood ties, the connection might not have been as easy due to class differences.

The women of the groom's family cleverly placed the 7-year-old bride on several large cushions, and her spread skirt covered the cushions to make her appear older than 7. However, the groom was a young man with freshly grown mustache.   “Mah-Tala”, after a few years, had become a young, beautiful, and brave woman with great skill in horseback riding and rifle shooting. She was somewhat fortunate to benefit from the affection of her husband’s grandmother due to the close blood relationship she had with “Mah-Tala’s” father. So the husband’s grandmother acted as a shield against the intentional hardships of the in-law family.

But this was her only chance; her husband never had any interest in “Mah-tala" from the beginning. After one or two years, he chose his favorite wife, and a detailed wedding celebration took place. He wasn't happy with “Mah-Tala”. The blood feud of our story did not come for this family as a bride, she was only the "price of blood" for the end of killing and slaughter. Everyone, including “Mah-tala," knew this.

In the early years of their married life, “Mah-Tala" could never see her family. The only time she could visit her family was during the nomadic migration season, usually at the well-known "Bargah" resting places where several tribes would gather.

Every day became harder for “Mah-Tala”. She couldn't even have enough food and received no help during childbirth. She gave birth to one of her children a little away from the black tent and used a nearby stone to cut the umbilical cord. She wrapped the newborn and returned to the tribe. Her child died after a while, probably due to infection.

A woman from the same family who witnessed “Mah-Tala's" life says, "One day, she tried to drink some milk from a cow, but someone from her husband's family saw her. With a kick to the bowl, the milk spilled on the ground. However, they didn't allow “Mah-Tala” who was pregnant at that time, to have that milk as a meal with a little bread.

“Mah-Tala” lived in a place where every day she was reminded that her brother was the murderer of their son. They mocked “Mah-Tala” attributing her to the killer of their son because of the similarity in her eyes, and instead of the murderer, they harassed her.

Perhaps family disputes and problems are inevitable, but what distinguishes the Blood Feud is that the harassment and torment of the girl who is a substitute for blood become a form of coercion for the family of the victim (groom’s family). To the extent that a common proverb is based on the idea that unless a bride from the family of the groom faces mistreatment from the bride's family, they say: “Is the bride instead of blood (Blood Feud) here?!”

The ancient belief is that a girl who is a Blood Feud has married to compensate for the mistake of a killer man, and according to this tradition, her ordinary family life is not considered. In the untold and recorded history within the hearts of Iranian women who have experienced and witnessed the Blood Feud tradition, there are many pains and sorrows, most of which are buried with those women.

Fortunately, this anti-woman and inhumane tradition has become rare these days with legal solutions, prison penalties, and financial compensations. However, it cannot be said to be completely eradicated, and society still needs social and civil engagement with the issue.

Certainly, the social status of women, equality of values without gender discrimination, and the enforcement of civil and human rights laws can help eliminate these wrong traditions.

Statements from judicial authorities in Khuzestan regarding the national registration of this ritual have stirred up the reactions of women and engaged public opinions extensively. Truly, to what extent do the laws and officials of the Islamic Republic have concerns about the hardships of women known as Blood Feud?