Mohammed Bijeh | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983 |
| Died | 16 March 2005 (aged 21–22) Pakdasht, Iran |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 54 |
Span of crimes | June 2002 – September 2004 |
| Country | Iran |
| State(s) | Pakdasht |
Mohammed Bijeh (Persian: محمد بيجه; 1983 – 16 March 2005) was an Iranian serial killer. He was convicted of raping and killing 54 young boys between June 2002 and September 2004, and was sentenced to 100 lashes followed by execution. All the boys were between 8 and 15 years old. The murder of children around Tehran was recognized as the largest criminal case in Iran for the last 71 years, and strongly influenced public opinion in the country.[2][3]
Muhammad Basjee, known as Bijeh, was born into a crowded family; he had six brothers and six half-brothers. When he was four years old, his mother died of cancer. His father was a merchant who married immediately after the death of Bijeh’s mother. Bijeh couldn't remember his mother and said that his father was a barbaric person who beat him and chained his legs during childhood.
His father forced him to abandon school and work. He was 11 when he moved to Khatunabad with his family, where he began working at a furnace. Around then, he was raped multiple times.
He admitted that he had been raped and wanted to take revenge on the community, and that he suffered from his mother's early death and the lack of affection he suffered in childhood.[2] Bijeh commented on his main motive for the murders: "I suffered cruelly from childhood, and when I compared my life with others, I had to commit such acts."[4]
List of victims of Bijeh:
| Number | Name | Sex | Age | Date of Murder | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mehrab Mandani | M | 10 | 23 June 2002 | |
| 2 | Arash Luloui | M | 11 | 1 July 2002 | |
| 3 | Gholam Alizadeh | M | 9 | 16 July 2002 | |
| 4 | Hamed Sadeghpour | M | 13 | 22 July 2002 | |
| 5 | Nematullah Yarmohammadi | M | 15 | 1 August 2002 | |
| 6 | Mehrzad Rudgari | M | 14 | 14 August 2002 | |
| 7 | Esfandiar Ghayashi | M | 10 | 17 August 2002 | |
| 8 | Mustafa Shafaat | M | 12 | 21 August 2002 | |
| 9 | Ibrahim Arabi | M | 11 | 2 September 2002 | |
| 10 | Mahmoud Batani | M | 8 | 16 September 2002 | |
| 11 | Hadi Beygi | M | 14 | 22 September 2002 | |
| 12 | Seyyed Reza Hejazi | M | 12 | 15 October 2002 | |
| 13 | Latif Hasanpour | M | 13 | 19 October 2002 | |
| 14 | Vahid Saidinejad | M | 12 | 2 November 2002 | |
| 15 | Gharman Vaghefi | M | 10 | 7 November 2002 | |
| 16 | Ravanbakhsh Shahbazi | M | 11 | 16 December 2002 | |
| 17 | Saleh Sheykihan | M | 13 | 20 December 2002 | |
| 18 | Rahim Agheli | M | 11 | 4 February 2003 | |
| 19 | Majid Aragi | M | 8 | 17 February 2003 | |
| 20 | Afshin Alavi | M | 12 | 24 February 2003 | |
| 21 | Abdolhakim Ghafari | M | 9 | 21 March 2003 | |
| 22 | Khosro Kianpour | M | 11 | 10 April 2003 | |
| 23 | Mirza Goodarzi | M | 14 | 16 April 2003 | |
| 24 | Izadyar Lashgari | F | 12 | 12 May 2003 | |
| 25 | Jalal Maherlnagsh | M | 15 | 1 July 2003 | |
| 26 | Mahdi Modersi | M | 12 | 18 July 2003 | |
| 27 | Mostafa Mardani | M | 9 | 26 July 2003 | |
| 28 | Mosa Nematizadeh | M | 14 | 25 September 2003 | |
| 29 | Naser Norozi | M | 11 | 4 October 2003 | |
| 30 | Mohammed Mohsen Vazin | M | 8 | 27 October 2003 | |
| 31 | Jahangir Yadgari | M | 11 | 12 December 2003 | |
| 32 | Bager Nazrian | M | 11 | 17 December 2003 | |
| 33 | Yosef Mehnati | M | 8 | 3 January 2004 | |
| 34 | Aref Sokoti | M | 12 | 17 February 2004 | |
| 35 | Hassan Abulhassenian | M | 10 | 26 February 2004 | |
| 36 | Yagob Yalvar | M | 14 | 12 April 2004 | |
| 37 | Payam Honeryar | M | 8 | 20 April 2004 | |
| 38 | Adel Varmrziari | M | 11 | 25 April 2004 | |
| 39 | Zabiolah Nasernejad | M | 12 | 10 May 2004 | |
| 40 | Homan Mostofi | M | 9 | 17 May 2004 | |
| 41 | Parviz Golshai | M | 8 | 25 May 2004 | |
| 42 | Mashalah Kabari | M | 10 | 15 June 2004 | |
| 43 | Majid Kochchpour | M | 11 | 21 June 2004 | |
| 44 | Parviz Faizi | M | 12 | 24 June 2004 | |
| 45 | Farhad Farjam | M | 8 | 1 July 2004 | |
| 46 | Sohrab Safari | M | 11 | 26 July 2004 | |
| 47 | Javad Khalki | M | 8 | 2 August 2004 | |
| 48 | Fathullah Niknam | M | 14 | 4 August 2004 | |
| 49 | Alireza Azmoudeh | M | 11 | 20 September 2004 | |
| 50 | Rasuol Brary | M | 11 | 20 September 2004 | |
| 51 | Ehsan Baradarn | M | 8 | 20 September 2004 | |
| 52 | Yahya Khanmohammedi | M | 9 | 20 September 2004 | |
| 53 | Heydar Ali Siamansoury | M | 11 | 20 September 2004 | |
| 54 | Abolhassan Salehy | M | 13 | 20 September 2004 |
Bijah was arrested on 24 September 2004 and tried in Branch 74 of the Tehran Penal Code, under the presiding Judge Mansour Yavarzadeh Yeganeh and his four other lawyers, and by a majority of its judges. On 27 November 2004, he was sentenced to be executed. Bijeh said that if he was not arrested, he would kill 100 children.[5] He said about his death sentence: "I do not deserve to be sentenced to death."[4] Police arrested 16 of their officers in the handling of this case, and the judiciary also announced that Pakdasht prosecutors, as well as two investigators and a prosecutor's office, had filed a "brief" case.[3]
On 16 March 2005, in Pakdasht, the town near the desert area where the killings occurred, in front of a crowd of about 5,000, Bijeh's shirt was removed, and he was handcuffed to an iron post, where he received his lashings from different judicial officials. He fell to the ground more than once during the punishment but did not cry out. A relative of one of the victims managed to get past security and stab Bijeh. The mother of one of the victims put a blue nylon rope around his neck, and he was hoisted about 10 meters in the air by a crane until he died.[6]
