born 1969
stabbed to death: 1 January 2001
Residence: Berlin-Neukölln
Origin: Afghanistan
Children: 4 sons, between 2 and 11 years old at the time of the crime
Perpetrators: Nezara's brother-in-law Badsha (29 years old at the time of the crime) and her 16-year-old cousin Magid
Nezara has lived with her husband and four children in Berlin-Neukölln since the late 1980s. He works as a driver, she as a cleaner. They also have a teenage cousin, Magid, who lives with them. When the husband dies of cancer, his Afghan family demands that she marry his brother Badshah.
read Nezara's storyBorn: 1967
Attempted murder: 26 April 2001
Residence: Neubeuern (Bavaria)
Origin: Albania
Children: unclear, presumably so
Perpetrator: her husband (aged 33 at the time of the crime)
There is almost nothing to find about this old case: On April 26, 2001, a Kosovar Albanian takes a cab to his divorced wife. He shoots her, her friend, her boss and himself. He dies, as does the girlfriend. The ex-wife and her boss survive badly wounded.
read Klea's storyborn 1983
Strangled: July 16, 2001
Residence: Rottenburg/Ergoldsbach (Landshut district)
Origin: Turkey
Children: none
Perpetrator: her father Mikdat Sacin, aged 41 at the time of the crime.
Funda is 18 years old, has a high school diploma and is training to be a hairdresser. Her father Mikdat is a religious but unremarkable man. He promises his daughter to a 24-year-old cousin from Ankara. Funda, however, refuses to marry him.
read Funda's storyborn: 1982, 1957
shot dead: 11 October 2001
Residence: Melle (near Osnabrück)
Origin: Victim: Germany; Perpetrator: Turkey / Yazidi
Children: Ina: presumably none, Hanni: unclear
Perpetrator: Ina's ex-boyfriend Erdal Ak (20 years old)
On October 11, 2001, a 20-year-old Yazidi Turk shoots 2 doctor's assistants in their practice. One is his ex-girlfriend Ina, who had broken up with him 2 months earlier. The other is her colleague Annegret, named Hanni.
read Ina's storyBorn: 1974 (and 1963)
Murdered: December 8, 2001
Residence: Wiesbaden
Origin: Victim: Mexico (Germany); Perpetrator: Sicily
Children: 1 son (and 1 son)
Perpetrator: her ex-husband (age 28 at the time of the crime)
Penelope is a saleswoman in a bakery and married for 7 years to a Sicilian with whom she has a son who is 6 years old at the time of the crime. She gets a divorce and moves in with her mother. Her ex-husband starts stalking her.
read Penelope's storyBorn: 1967
shot dead: 24 December 2001
Residence: Cologne
Origin: Turkey
Children: one daughter, Sülaal, age 6 at the time of the crime
Perpetrator: husband Ismail (age 37)
Nihal's case is hardly documented. She is probably an import bride who had to quit her job in Turkey in 1982 to go to Germany for marriage under duress. Her husband Ismail deals in satellite equipment.
read Nihal's storyBorn: 1967
shot dead: 24 December 2001
Residence: Cologne
Origin: Turkey
Children: one daughter, Sülaal, age 6 at the time of the crime
Perpetrator: husband Ismail (age 37)
Nihal's case is hardly documented. She is probably an import bride who had to quit her job in Turkey in 1982 to go to Germany for marriage under duress. Her husband Ismail deals in satellite equipment.
read Hülya's storyborn: 1978, 1976
stabbed to death: 20 March 2002
Residence: Hamburg
Origin: Afghanistan
Children: none
Perpetrator: her ex-husband Nasir Ahmad Rasikh (35 years old at the time of the crime)
Mariam comes to Germany in 1981 with her parents and older brother and later studies pharmacy. At the age of 19 she marries Nasir, an Afghan who has been living in Hamburg for several years. The marriage lasts only a few months, after which she wants a divorce.
read Mariam's storyBorn: 1997, 1998
drowned: July 20, 2002
Residence: Frankfurt/M.
Origin: India
Children: they were children themselves
Perpetrator: father Buhpendraroy Govindji C. (aged 43 at the time of the crime)
This crime is not a typical honor killing. Yet honor is the driving force behind the story. Buhpendraroy is from India and comes to Germany illegally via the Netherlands in 1987. Through marriage he obtains a German passport in 1992.
read Steven's storyborn 1982
stabbed to death: September 17, 2002
Residence: Berlin-Spandau
Origin: Yugoslavia
Children: none
Perpetrator: her father Zivota Pantic (age 42 at the time of the crime)
In 2000, Mirjana's parents divorce in the former Yugoslavia. Mother and daughter move to Berlin and live together in a flat in Spandau. The father, Zivota Pantic, remains in his homeland. He is an Orthodox Christian.
read Mirjana's storyborn 1980
stabbed to death: 16 October 2002
Residence: Friedrichsdorf (Taunus)
Origin: Turkey
Children: none
Perpetrator: her husband Mehmet T., 23 years old at the time of the crime
Birsen was born and raised in Germany. Yet her parents marry her off to a cousin from Turkey. In February 2002, he came to Germany from his Anatolian village (where he herded his family's sheep).
read Birsen's storyBorn: 1987
Strangled: March 13, 2003
Residence: Kusterdingen near Tübingen
Origin: Albania/Kosovo
Children: none (she was only 16 years old)
Perpetrator: her father Latif (at the time of the crime 42 years old)
Ulerika came to Germany with her parents as a two-year-old in 1989. She grows up near Tübingen, is well integrated and is even elected school representative. Her father Latif sees his family honor tarnished by her Western lifestyle.
read Ulerika's storyborn 1976
stabbed: 3 April 2003
Residence: Hamburg-Billstedt
Origin: Turkey
Children: 3 (4, 5 and 10 years old at the time of the crime)
Perpetrator: her brother-in-law Orhan (19 years old at the time of the crime)
Funda is married and has 3 children. She had one when she was 17, indicating a forced marriage. The couple separates, the father moves out of the apartment. Funda's brother-in-law Orhan is an asylum seeker from Turkey.
read Funda's storyborn:
stabbed to death: April 2003
Residence: Obertshausen (near Offenbach)
Origin: Turkey
Children: one daughter (born 1994), one son (born 1990)
Perpetrator: her husband, aged 34 at the time of the crime.
Nothing would be known about this honor killing if not for the aftermath: In December 2008, 19-year-old Rasit Y. stabbed his father to death in his sleep to avenge the murder of his mother. Both acts happened in the same apartment.
read Ayse's storyborn 1966
stabbed to death: 1 April 2003
Residence: Münster
Origin: Perpetrator: Turkey
Children: unclear
Perpetrator: her ex-boyfriend Cetin A. (32 years old at the time of the crime)
With 66 knife stabs, Cetin kills his ex-girlfriend Katrin in Münster in early April 2003. She lives in Münster, her real name and nationality are not known. She is believed to be German. The police find the body in the Steinfurter Bagno recreation area.
read Katrin's storyborn 1978
murdered: 6 May 2003
Residence: Übach-Palenberg (near Aachen)
Origin: Kosovo
Children: at least 1 daughter (16 months at the time of the crime)
Perpetrator: her brother-in-law Burin M. (25 years old)
Burin is an asylum seeker from Kosovo and lives in Hamburg. His brother lives with his wife and child (or children) in Übach-Palenberg near Aachen. During a visit, an argument ensues. Burin suspects that his brother's wife is having an affair and is thus cheating on his brother.
read Ariana's storyBorn: 1969
shot dead: 17 June 2003
Residence: Dinslaken
Origin: Turkey
Children: one son (13 years old at the time of the crime)
Perpetrator: her husband Sebahattin (34 years old at the time of the crime)
Türel comes from a modern Turkish family and marries at her own request within a conservative clan. At the beginning of her marriage, she must wear a headscarf and is not allowed to work, even though she is trained as a saleswoman in retail or industry.
read Türel's storyborn 1965
stabbed to death: October 3/4, 2003
Residence: Hamburg
Origin: Turkey
Children: more than 1
Perpetrator: Mustafa G. (34 years old at the time of the crime)
Mustafa came to Germany at the age of 12 and married a Turkish saleswoman in 1994. Their daughter was born the following year. In 2002, the woman meets a married Turkish pallet trader from Delmenhorst, also named Mustafa. He helps her - it is said - to record a CD as a singer.
read Mustafa's storyBorn: 1971, 1983
Murdered: 12 October 2003
Residence: Goldenstedt/District of Vechta
Origin: Pakistan
Children: probably none
Perpetrator: Mehmood A. (49 years old at the time of the crime, living in Germany for 20 years)
Mehmood comes to Germany as a construction worker in 1985 and brings his wife and 5 children from Pakistan in 2000. When his daughter Farzana is 20, she secretly goes to Pakistan and marries her childhood sweetheart.
read Farzana's storyborn: 1975, 1997
stabbed to death: 22 March 2004
Residence: Augsburg
Origin: Turkey
Children: a 7-year-old daughter from her first marriage
Perpetrator: her husband Ali Göbelek, 37 years old at the time of the crime
In April 2003, Alyin and Ali were married. The two are cousins, so a forced or arranged marriage is likely. The marriage gives Ali the opportunity to come to Germany. He is an imported groom. However, he does not learn German and only works occasionally.
read Aylin's storyBorn: 1990
stabbed to death: 31 May 2004
Residence: Neuenrade/Hagen
Origin: victim: Macedonia or Turkey; perpetrator: Turkey
Children: none, she was only 14 years old.
Perpetrator: Baris G. (20 years old at the time of the crime), probably her lover
This murder is not clearly an honor killing, at least not a typical one. As far as is known, 20-year-old Baris has sexual intercourse with 14-year-old Filis. Some articles say she is Turkish, others Macedonian.
read Filis' storyborn 1982
drowned: 9 October 2004
Residence: Berlin-Spandau
Origin: Victim: Germany, Perpetrator: Lebanon
Children: 2 sons, at the time of the crime 2 and 3 years old.
Perpetrator: her partner Mohammed El-C., 23 years old at the time of the crime
In the summer of 2001, Ramona and Mohammed entered into an imam marriage, i.e. a religious union that is not recognized as a marriage in Germany. They have two small sons. The father is violent.
read Ramona's storyBorn: 1977
stabbed to death: 12 October 2004
Residence: Esslingen am Neckar
Origin: Turkey
Children: possibly 1 child in Turkey
Perpetrator: Özhan Kepenek, the brother of his girlfriend, 18 years old at the time of the crime, born and raised in Germany
This honor killing is a murder of a man. It is rare, but it occurs. It begins with Özhan's sister Filiz Kepenek and her husband (who have two children together) seeking an amicable divorce. Both already have new partners.
read Kemal's storyBorn: 1980 (1952)
stabbed to death: 18 October 2004
Residence: Berlin
Origin: Victim: Germany, Perpetrator: Turkey
Children: 2 daughters (3 and 6 years old at the time of the crime)
Perpetrator: her husband Mahmut Celik (28 years old)
In 1998 Mahmut and Stefanie (some newspapers write Steffanie) get married. This gives Mahmut the right to stay. However, he does not have a German passport. Stefanie brings a daughter with her into the marriage. The two have a second daughter.
read Stefanie's storyborn: 1983
stabbed to death: 25 November 2004
Residence: Berlin-Wittenau
Country of origin: Turkey
Children: daughter Eda (born 2001), a son from a new relationship (born 2004)
Perpetrator: her ex-husband Cengiz Uzun (age 26 at the time of the crime)
Semra grows up in Berlin. Her mother dies in 1994, a month later her father remarries. Possibly the new wife does not accept Semra. She is treated like a house slave. To get rid of her, the father marries Semra to her cousin Cengiz when she is 12 (possibly by phone).
read Semra's storyborn 1969
stabbed to death: 29 November 2004
Residence: Berlin-Neukölln
Origin: Turkey
Children: unclear, probably 4 children from first marriage
Perpetrator: Selahattin E., Kurd, 21 year old male at the time of the crime
Melek E. is already divorced when she meets Selahattin. It is suspected that he wants to marry her to get a residence permit in Germany. He had previously entered the country illegally. But he knows that his wife is living a modern life in Berlin.
read Melek's storyBorn: 1962
stabbed: 6 December 2004
Residence: Wuppertal
Origin: Victim: Morocco, Offender: Iraq
Children: 2 daughters (22 and 24 years old at the time of the crime), 1 son (16 years old)
Perpetrator: her former partner Essam Abd-Al Rassul (39 years old at the time of the crime)
Nothing would be known about this case if the ZDF program Aktenzeichen XY Ungelöst had not reported on it in 2007. In the 1970s, a Moroccan comes to Germany as a guest worker and takes his wife Karima with him. 3 children are born in Wuppertal: 2 girls, 1 boy.
read Karima's storyBorn: 1985
shot dead: 15 December 2004
Residence: Leipzig-Grünau
Place of origin: Victim: Germany; Perpetrator: Iraq
Perpetrator: her husband Samir H.-M., age 22 at the time of the crime
Shortly before her 18th birthday, Mariann moves in with Samir. The Iraqi immediately breaks contact with her family. He pressures her to marry him in Denmark, which she does. This is because Samir's asylum application was rejected in 2000.
read Martina's storyborn 1973
Strangled: 4 January 2005
Residence: Berlin-Neukölln
Origin: Turkey / Kurds
Children: 5
Perpetrator: Meryem's former partner Mahmut S. (33 years old at the time of the crime), father of their 5 children.
Meryem Ö. and Mahmut S. (both Kurds) live in an imam marriage. This religious marriage is not officially recognized in Germany and Turkey. It is not known why the two were not officially married via civil marriage.
read Meryem's storyBorn: 1982
Shot dead: 7 February 2005
Residence: Berlin
Origin: Turkey / Kurds
Children: 1 son, Can (born 1999)
Perpetrator: Ayhan, her youngest brother, Kurdish, 18 years old at the time of the crime, born in Germany
At the age of 15, Hatun Sürücü is married off to a cousin in Turkey by her Kurdish family, who live in Berlin. Two years later she divorces and returns to Berlin pregnant. She takes off her headscarf, finishes school and attends a technical college.
read Hatun's storyborn 1943
shot dead: 29 April 2005
Residence: Munich
Origin: Turkey
Children: perpetrator and victim are stay-at-home dads
Perpetrator: his former best friend Mustafa A., 56 years old at the time of the crime
In the mid-1980s, Ahmed lived temporarily with his then best friend Mustafa. During this time, he allegedly sexually abused his host's two underage daughters for years. He never spoke about it.
read Ahmed's storyBorn: 1988, 1982
Attempted murder: May 16, 2005
Residence: Munich
Origin: Turkey
Children: none
Perpetrators: Hakan Ö. (23 years old at the time of the crime) and Oguz A. (27 years old)
Hakan was born in Munich in 1982 and grew up with his grandparents in Izmir, Turkey. He returned to Munich when he was 10 years old. His parents' marriage broke up. The mother flees to a women's shelter a few times.
read Tugba's storyBorn: 1966
Attempted murder: May 23, 2005
Residence: Hannover
Origin: Kosovo
Children: 4
Perpetrator: her husband
We wouldn't have found this attempted honor killing at all if it hadn't come back to the newspapers in 2018. At the time, Lezime lived with her disabled son Liridon (now 27 years old) in a flat in Hanover. Fearing for the husband, they bought a fighting dog.
read Lezime's storyBorn: 1985
shot dead: 13 June 2005
Residence: Dotzheim/Wiesbaden
Origin: Turkey
Children: none
Perpetrator: her oldest brother Ali (24 years old at the time of the crime), came to Germany when he was 11 years old, German citizen since 2005
Gönül (in some reports she is called Gülcan) Karabey was born in Turkey and came to Germany at the age of six. At the age of 16 she is married off at the Turkish consulate. Later, the Turkish husband leaves for Italy, so the marriage cannot be dissolved.
read Gönül's storyBorn: 1985 (both)
Murdered: 22 June 2005
Location: Munich-Neuperlach
Origin: Victim: Turkey and Germany; Perpetrator: Croatia
Children: none
Perpetrator: her boyfriend Marko Z. (age 22 at the time of the crime)
Marko is 22 years old, from Croatia, works as a salesman in Munich and has a German passport. He is known to the police for drug offenses and assault. He lives with Kristine. The relationship is violent, but the two also run a sham company with more than 130,000 euros in the account.
read Kristine's storyborn 1971
stabbed to death: 4 December 2005
Location: Kempten (Bavaria)
Origin: Victim: Germany, Offender: Albania
Children: one son (2 years old at the time of the crime), one daughter (7 years old)
Perpetrator: her divorced husband Agim, 36 years old at the time of the crime, casual laborer
During a study visit to Italy, Regina meets her future husband, Albanian Agim E.. The two fall in love, live together for a few years (probably unremarkably) and have a daughter. She works as a language teacher, he occasionally as a waiter or kitchen help.
read Regina's storyborn: 1972
stabbed: December 2005
Residence: Bremen
Origin: Turkey
Children: probably none
Perpetrator: Tamer S. (41 years old), divorced former husband of Mustafa's girlfriend
Few victims of honor killings are men. But the motive for an honor killing is always the alleged sexual misconduct (or indeed self-determination) of the woman. Tamer, a Turk, lives separated from his wife but won't accept that she has a new boyfriend.
read Mustafa's storyborn: 1973, 1982
shot dead: December 31, 2005
Residence: Letmathe/Iserlohn
Origin: victim: Germany, alleged perpetrator: Turkey
Children: two (2 and 11 years old at the time of the crime)
Perpetrators: her ex-boyfriend (30 years old) and his two brothers (38 and 43 years old). The middle brother Mehmet is suspected of being the shooter.
In August 2005 Katja breaks up with her boyfriend, with whom she had lived for five years. The abandoned man then harasses her for months and threatens to kill her. The couple have a son together and Katja has another child from a previous relationship.
read Katja's storyBorn: 1985
Murder contract: 2006
Residence: Hadamar (near Limburg/Hesse)
Origin: Turkey
Children: none
Perpetrator: her father Emin B. (at the time of the crime 45 years old), Kurdish Turk, since 15 years in Germany
Gülperi's father orders his 16-year-old son to kill his sister Gülperi. The reason: she refuses to marry an unknown cousin from Turkey. Although the murder is not carried out, Gülperi's story is found in this archive.
read Gülperi's storyborn: 1967
stabbed to death: 20 March 2006
Residence: Hamburg-Eißendorf
Origin: Turkey
Children: 2 daughters (7 and 13 years old at the time of the crime)
Perpetrator: her husband Attila (40 years old)
Fatma and Attila come from the same Turkish province and are "promised" to each other in a kind of forced child marriage. First Attila moves to Germany and works as a welder in a shipyard. He is given a German passport.
read Fatma's storyBorn: 1982
stabbed to death and burned: 25 October 2006
Residence: Munich
Origin: northern Iraq / Kurds
Children: one son, born in 2001, 5 years old at the time of the crime, now lives with a foster family
Perpetrator: Kazim Mahmud Raschid, her ex-husband, Kurdish Iraqi, 36 years old at the time of the crime and already in Germany for ten years
Most honor killers have no sense of guilt. For them, the laws of the clan are above the laws of the state. The killer of 24-year-old Kurdish woman Sazan even stressed in court that he was proud of his act.
read Sazan's storyborn 1982
stabbed to death: 16 November 2006
Residence: Wiesbaden
Origin: Turkey
Children: a 4-year-old daughter at the time of the crime
Perpetrator: her divorced husband Tuncay I. (27 years old), had been living in Germany for several years
Sevgi was born in Germany and raised in Wiesbaden. She is graduating from the Realschule and is doing an internship as a legal assistant. She is believed to have been married off to a relative on New Year's Eve 2000/2001 during a vacation in Turkey.
read Sevgi's story