Honour killing story: Beata Statkiewicz (2009)

Beata Statkiewicz
born: 1987
stabbed: 22 July 2009
Residence: Landau (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Origin: Victim: Poland/Germany; Offender: Iraq
Children: 1 daughter (4 years), 1 son (1 year)
Perpetrator: her boyfriend Basim Mohammed Hussein (aged 34 at the time of the crime)

Basim is considered to be jealous. Although he has lived in Germany for ten years, he speaks (at least in court) only broken German. There is a lot of fighting in the young family, neighbors say. Beata wants a divorce. Basim does not want to accept this. There are probably death threats and the police have been called in. In the courtroom, however, the interpreter later translates the death threat as "If she leaves me, she is dead to me."

On July 22, 2009, Basim stabbed his partner to death with 57 knife stabs in front of their two young shared children.

When his partner stopped moving, Basim called the police and had himself arrested. Before the Landau Regional Court in early 2010, he admits the crime and claims that his girlfriend provoked him. He reportedly considered the divorce an "impermissible attack on him as head of the family." One of the police officers who was at the scene of the crime testified, "There was a perpetrator who stabbed with an absolute urge to destroy," the emergency doctor speaks of "great brutality." Basim was sentenced to life imprisonment.

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.