Narges Achikzei came to the Netherlands with her family from Afghanistan in 2003 as a 16-year-old refugee. The family was granted asylum and started a new life in a new country in Zeist. In 2007 and 2008, Narges worked at Advios Assurantiën under the supervision of Ralph Geissen. Ralph reportedly had a crush on her, but that love was not reciprocated. After Narges' fiancé Haroen Mehraban threatened her employer, Narges was fired by him. Ralph filed a report with the police against Narges and her fiancé for making death threats.
Ralph then allegedly stalked Narges via e-mail. Narges filed a complaint about this. As a result of that report, Ralph was questioned by a police officer in 2009. During that interrogation, the police officer got the impression that Ralph mixed up fiction and truth and had all kinds of unsubstantiated theories, which she recorded in an official report. According to the officer, Ralph admitted that he had "made a big mistake."
Narges and her fiancé were associated with large-scale Internet scams. Ralph also filed a complaint against them for fraud, extortion, threats, harassment, and solemnization of an informal Muslim marriage. Ralph himself has been summoned to appear before the court for defamation because he stalked Narges with emails and damaged her honor and good name.
In several summary proceedings, judges ordered Ralph under penalty of fines to stop stalking Narges via email and damaging her honor and good name. Narges, her fiancé, and their lawyer also petitioned for the bankruptcy of Advios Assurantiën and Ralph to claim overdue wages and collect the fines. This bankruptcy was declared by the court on September 1, 2009. Ralph did not appear at the bankruptcy hearing due to the death threat. Two fines of 15,000 euros each were imposed on Ralph for not removing various accusations against Narges, her fiancé, and lawyer. An investigation by a police officer revealed that Ralph was in love with Narges and wanted to marry her, but she rejected him because she wanted to marry her fiancé.
Around 5:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon, December 7, 2009, an alarming call came in to 112. A woman was on fire at the Geroflat on the Laan van Vollenhove in Zeist. The emergency services responded immediately. In haste, Narges was taken to the burn center in Rotterdam. Doctors did everything they could to save her life, but in vain. That same evening Narges died of her injuries. Surveillance footage is available of the suspect. These were made in the apartment before and after her act. Narges' fiancé was on the phone with her when she was attacked and informed officers that Narges told him she was opening the door to accept a package for him.
The day after the murder, the Public Prosecution Service announced in a newspaper article that they are postponing the defamation case of the deceased woman from Zeist, which was scheduled for December 15, 2009. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the trial against the 32-year-old former employer R.G. from Utrecht, due to stalking via email and defamation, has been postponed for further investigation. 'There is indeed a probation report, but more psychological or psychiatric research is needed,' says spokesperson Mary Hallebeek of the Public Prosecution Service. A connection between these two cases is being investigated by the detective team, as well as all other possible motives. There had been months of conflict.
Narges is Afghan, and there are those who immediately thought it would be honor killing. But police have no indication that this is actually the case. TGO Gero team leader Tijn Keuss stated on television that "there is simply no evidence of an honor killing," and stressed that the family had nothing to do with it. He called it adamant that the community points to Narges' family as perpetrators and assured again that it can be ruled out that this is a case of honor-related violence. In a conversation with the lawyer of Narges' fiancée Mr. Peter Ruijzendaal, Tijn Keuss allegedly said that Ralph was frustrating the investigation with his publications on the Internet.
Parliamentary questions from the VVD to the Minister of Justice about whether Narges was a victim of honor-related violence and whether it was true that in this case an Islamic marriage had been performed without a prior civil marriage were never answered by the investigation team "in the interest of the investigation."
The Public Prosecutor, who had a meeting scheduled in his agenda with Narges and her lawyer to discuss their defamation case against Ralph, decided years after the murder to drop all charges. The same Public Prosecutor also dropped Ralph's complaint against Narges' fiancé and lawyer as instigators of the murder.
Among Narges' family and friends, there is a suspicion that the murderer acted out of jealousy because Narges was about to get married and lead a very happy life. They contradict the suggestion that it was an honor killing. The suspect, an acquaintance of Narges Achikzei and her friend, refuses to explain why she murdered Narges and how exactly she carried it out.
According to the police, there are numerous witnesses who testify that the suspect had a strong affection for Narges' future husband and that she cried when it was announced that the wedding was imminent. A friend of the suspect stated in court that she burst into tears upon hearing that Narges and Haroen were getting married, revealing her secret love for Narges' future spouse and her hatred towards Narges. From the public gallery, the murderer was shouted at: "You couldn't have gotten him anyway!" When questioned by the judges if she was jealous of Narges, the suspect denied: "I had nothing against her!"
The murderer denied being jealous of Narges on two occasions in court. When Haroen stated during his victim impact statement that he would prefer to set the murderer on fire himself, the session was temporarily adjourned to calm emotions. During that break, Haroen fainted in the presence of his friends. The court in Utrecht ruled that there were no indications of pathological jealousy or vengeful actions by the suspect. The court in Arnhem sentenced the woman, who was connected to Narges' circle of acquaintances, to 12 years in prison with involuntary psychiatric treatment, noting that "the motive remains unclear to date, although there are indications in the case file that the suspect may have been jealous of Narges."
Public Prosecutor Mr. Rob van Noort later stated in a television broadcast that Haroen's victim impact statement had deeply affected him and that shortly after Narges was set on fire, he himself had been present at the crime scene to gather information.
Harro Kras argues in a magazine that tunnel vision within the police force can be exacerbated by pressure from the public and media. He cites the murder of Narges as an example: "The media were all over it. Experts lined up to give their views on this so-called honor killing. In the meantime, a female suspect from the circle of friends is being tried for this murder, where honor killing is clearly not the motive. The case demonstrates the strength of the investigative team. It continued to critically examine all scenarios."
The police officer who assisted Narges with the defamation case against Ralph also filed two complaints against Narges' former employer for defamation, slander, and insult. In January 2017, she denied lying in her official reports and accused Ralph of calling her a corrupt police officer who had twisted the truth and indirectly responsible for Narges' murder in a video on YouTube. In her official report, the following quote from Ralph's YouTube video was included: 'Corrupt officer Anita Frielink (ps) from Police Zeist lied so that Narges Achikzei's former employer would be prosecuted by the Public Prosecutor for defamation, slander, and email stalking. Then Narges was doused with gasoline and set on fire by a sister of a friend of her ex-husband. Because she wanted to marry a man of her own choice and was in love with a Dutch man, the police invented jealousy as a motive to cover up corruption, fraud, and honor killing.' According to the police officer, Ralph meant himself by that Dutch man. She finds it extremely insulting and hurtful that Ralph has portrayed her in the media in this way with a photo he took from her Facebook account. She perceives it as a serious and intense violation of her privacy, and moreover, it damages her reputation as an officer. The officer alleges that Ralph is spreading big lies and insults about her.
The police chief, following in the footsteps of his colleague, also filed a complaint against Ralph. The police chief admitted that he had only tangentially been involved in the investigation and claimed that he felt offended because he had read an email stating that he had dirty hands in the Narges murder case and that officers had acted "collectively corrupt." Ralph suffered another defeat in court and was convicted of insulting the police in Zeist based on the report from the police officer and two of her superiors. Ralph was prohibited from accusing the police officer and the police chief of corruption. If he does so within a trial period of 2 years, he could face 7 days of imprisonment.
State investigators, honor killing experts, chief prosecutors and inspectors all have great faith in the expertise and professionalism of their colleagues. None of them were willing to confirm that the police had concealed over 60 complaints and an honor killing. On the contrary, they argued that the police investigation showed that Narges was not a victim of honor-related violence, but a victim of a jealous love rival. That notoriously partisan investigators rely on patently fabricated stories from Narges' family and friends unfortunately does not interest state investigators, honor killing experts and inspectors. This particularly reflects poorly on honor killing experts because they have been taught that family members of honor killing victims are not a reliable source of information.