Honour killing story: Baran (2020)

Baran
born: 2005
Murder: April 4, 2020
Residence: Augsburg
Origin: Afghanistan
Children: he was only 15 years old
Perpetrator: his brother-in-law (29 years at the time of the crime)

On April 4, 2020 there is a riot in a shelter for refugees in Augsburg-Göggingen. The police is called. The officers find a dead 15-year old. His mother is seriously injured and needs emergency surgery. A sister (20 years old) is also seriously injured. The father (41 years old) and another sister (16 years old) are slightly injured. The mother would be 37 years old. This would mean that she would have had her 24-year-old daughter at the age of 13.

Background: The 29-year-old offender was married to the 24-year-old daughter of the family. But she was divorced. The young woman was not present during the crime.

The perpetrator has been arrested, his arrest warrant is for murder and 4 attempted murders. As for the motive, one could speculate: The man beats his wife. She goes back to her parents. Since they take her in, the villain blames his in-laws for the divorce. Or it could have been something else. The names of the people involved are not known.

What is an honour killing?

An honour killing is a murder in the name of honour. If a brother murders his sister to restore family honour, it is an honour killing. According to activists, the most common reasons for honour killings are as the victim:

refuses to cooperate in an arranged marriage.
wants to end the relationship.
was the victim of rape or sexual assault.
was accused of having a sexual relationship outside of marriage.

Human rights activists believe that 100,000 honour killings are carried out every year, most of which are not reported to the authorities and some are even deliberately covered up by the authorities themselves, for example because the perpetrators are good friends with local policemen, officials or politicians. Violence against girls and women remains a serious problem in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Serbia and Turkey.