IRAN AFP October 15, 2000

  A woman in Tehran is raped; murdered and mutilated every six days as the capital faces an escalating crisis over runaways, a government newspaper said Sunday.

 The Iran paper said the bodies of 30 women, some of them underage, have been found in the past six months, all of them with their faces burned and all of them victims of rape.

 Most of the victims were between 25 and 35 years old, it said, adding that the youngest was a 15-year-old who had run away from home and was believed to have fallen into the clutches of a local gang.

 The paper cited police statistics saying the number of runaways in the capital had risen 30% in the last year, with more than 900 girls and 700 boys fleeing home for a variety of reasons.

 It said one of the main reasons for the higher number of female runaways was likely the traditional preference shown to sons in Iranian households.

 Tehran has established a home for runaway girls, who can move into the house after getting medical and police approval, and the paper said many girls who take to the streets are victims of violence at home.

 It said there was also a marked increase in the number of bodies discovered near the end of the school year, when the unhappy youngsters begin summer holidays that will oblige them to spend more time at home.

 Iranian officials have expressed concern in recent months over a rapid rise in crime as well as drug trafficking and consumption.