18-year-old Iranian girl faces death by stoning for adultery

Teenagers tend to be pigeon-holed in one of three ways: hood-wearing hooligans, self-indulgent depressives or iPhone-obsessed brats; so where do girls like Azar Bagheri fit in?

At the tender age of 14 her marriage was arranged. Just a few months later she was accused of adultery by her husband, who has since denounced their marriage, and arrested. At trial Azar was sentenced to be stoned to death.

Now 18-years-old, Azar has spent most of her teenage years on death row because Iranian authorities have recently become reluctant to execute minors (although this was not always the case). However, this did not prevent prison guards from subjecting Azar to two mock stonings by burying her up to her shoulders in the yard of Tabriz prison.

In upcoming appeals Azar’s lawyers are planning to ask judges to reduce her sentence to 99 lashes. Yet even if this plea bargain saves her life, how will Azar ever recover from an adolescence spent in isolation and terror, the prospect of her 18th birthday signifying not adulthood, but death.