Eye for an eye: Iranian man sentenced to be blinded

A court in Tehran has sentenced a man to be blinded as punishment after he caused a man to lose the use of one eye following a fight, according to the IranWire news website

The 45-year-old man was sentenced under the Iranian legal principle of qisas (retribution). The practice allows for people convicted of violent crimes to be subjected to retaliation.

According to local media, the man had a violent altercation with his neighbour, which resulted in the neighbour going blind in one eye.

Blinding as a form of retribution has been used before in Iran, but remains rare.

The brutal punishment was first handed down in 2008 against an individual who was found guilty of an acid attack, although the victim chose to pardon the man at the last minute.

In 2015, Iranian medics gouged out the eye of a man who had also been found guilty of an acid attack.

Most recently, in 2016, a man was blinded in both eyes for throwing lime into the eyes of his four-year-old niece, causing the young girl to lose her sight.

Iran’s Penal Code is in part based on punishments detailed in Islamic Sharia law, which are interpreted by Twelver Shia Muslim clergy.

Human rights organisations have frequently criticised Iran for its use of corporal punishment and amputation.

In February, they called on the country to quash the conviction of Hadi Rostami, a mentally ill prisoner who was lashed 60 times, and sentenced to have four of his fingers amputated.