Sogand Pakdel
Age 2713 Jun 2025
Kavar, Fars (Iran)
Shot
TDoR list ref: tgeu/tdor2025/13-Jun-2025/Sogand Pakdel
Sogand was shot dead by her uncle as she arrived at her cousin's wedding.
Editor's Note: the exact date of her murder is not known, but it reportedly took place "several days" before the start of the 12-day war on 13th June.
Sogand Pakdel, a 27-year-old trans woman, was brutally shot and killed by her uncle last month in Kavar, Fars Province. The killing, which had gone unreported until now, was confirmed by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.
Sources close to Hengaw confirmed that Pakdel, a supporter of the Women, Life, Freedom (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) movement, was murdered during her cousin’s wedding ceremony, just days before the start of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel. Her uncle shot her at the event after repeated attempts by the family to prevent her attendance on so-called “honor” grounds.
Pakdel had long faced violence and rejection from her family, who viewed her gender identity and expression as a disgrace. “Sogand always stood up for her rights as a trans woman and for the rights of others. She had a resilient spirit,” one source told Hengaw.
Prior to the murder, Pakdel had taken refuge in a hostel in Shiraz along with other trans individuals from various cities. She was fleeing domestic violence and living in precarious conditions due to the absence of support systems and societal protections. Another source said: “Male relatives would repeatedly take her out to the desert and beat her. The last time this happened, she recorded a video and shared it, saying: ‘Let us live.’”
On the day of the wedding, despite the family's threats, Pakdel attended in her feminine gender expression. As the couple arrived, her uncle fired two bullets — one into the air and the second directly at her head—killing her instantly.
Pakdel belonged to the Galleh-Zan clan of the Qashqai Turk ethnic group, and her killing was motivated by so-called “honor.”
https://www.en-hrana.org/trans-woman-sogand-pakdel-killed-by-uncle-in-honor-related-shooting/
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202507250459
https://hengaw.net/en/reports-and-statistics-1/2025/07/article-7
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMhgf_voAVr/
https://x.com/Hengaw_English/status/1948114101403578631
https://x.com/HRANA_English/status/1948680710195118442
