AbstractDomestic homicide is the most serious type of violence in a marital relationship, which is punishable by the death penalty as retaliation (Qisas) according to the Penal Code of Iran. The present paper analyzes why a woman commits this crime (the killing of her husband), examining the killer’s status in a marital relationship. Data show that the killers had been victims of domestic violence for 10–25 years. In other words, domestic homicide has a direct relationship with the killer being victimized by domestic violence, including physical (assault and battery), mental (insult and obscenity), sexual and sometimes financial violence that may result from addiction. The most important reason for domestic homicide is the failure to provide legal and social protection for women. This incites hatred for the husband, which arises from repeated victimization in a coercive relationship with the husband. These women cannot end this coercive relationship because of insufficient or unavailable legal, social or family protection. Moreover, the process of divorce for a woman in Iran is quite complex. This article also examines the potential defense of mental capacity and self-defense and its place in the Iranian penal code. Based on this research, this article argues for the need for the legislature to review the death penalty for this kind of crime and to consider other possible responses to such murders.