An Inquiry into the Effects of the Delay in Executing an Eye for an Eye

In 1385-1386 (2006-2007) a research was conducted in Qom and Arak in order to assess and analyze the effects of delay in executing “an eye for an eye” penalty on the families of the sentenced. To this end, questions were put to the spouses, children, parents, siblings, friends, and neighbors of those who were sentenced to examine these effects and after the answers had been gathered, tables of two-dimensional and descriptive analyses of the data were drawn up by means of SPSS software. Using Wilcoxon method, one of the non-parametric methods to compare two dependent variables, the conditions of the families before and after the execution were assessed and compared. Some hypotheses were confirmed and others were rejected after analyzing these comparisons and level of significance of each of them. The research findings show that although long imprisonment had undesirable effects on the families of those who were sentenced, most of their spouses were content with the delay in executing the retaliation, hoping that the families of those who were murdered will pardon them.