Soraya Manutchehri

Who is Soraya Manutchehri?

Soraya Manutchehri was a 35-year-old woman who was stoned to death in the small village of Kuhpayeh, Iran on 15 August 1986 after being allegedly convicted of adultery. Unnamed witnesses have claimed that her husband, Ghorban-Ali, a prison guard with a petty criminal past, was eager to get rid of her in order to marry a 14-year-old girl. Not wanting to support two families nor return Soraya's dowry, he therefore spread false rumors of her adultery. Soraya Manutchehri was a victim in an unforgettable unfair circumstance.

Her death was the subject of a 1990 novel, La Femme Lapidée, by Freidoune Sahebjam. The novel was later adapted as a film, The Stoning of Soraya M..