Honour killing story

Bernd
born: 1960
Shot dead: 23 July 2012
Residence: Bonn/Troisdorf
Provenance: Victim: Germany; Perpetrator: Sicily
Children: 2 daughters (14 and 17 years)
Perpetrator: Sergio L. (58 years), ex-husband of his partner
Sergio and Sandra have two children and are divorcing in 2010, probably because he has a mistress. Sergio is a waiter, Sandra works in a bakery. After the divorce Sandra comes together with Bernd, who works at the utility company.

Although Sergio himself has different lovers, he does not allow his ex-wife to get a new boyfriend. He threatens them both, they report him to the police several times. At the moment of the crime there is a restraining order.

On 23 July 2012 Sergio is lurking at night at the house of his ex-wife. When she opens the door early in the morning to go to work, he hits her with an iron rod to gain access to the apartment. There he shoots her new boyfriend with 5 shots. The daughters and their mother must witness the crime.

Then Sergio reports to the police, who finds the gun and the iron rod in his car. The trial starts in February 2013 at the jury court in Bonn. The charge is murder. Maybe Sergio also shot his younger daughter. A police officer testifies that the perpetrator was remarkably quiet all day after the crime.

In May, the perpetrator is sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and infliction of bodily harm. The particular seriousness of the guilt is determined. In October 2013, the Federal Supreme Court rejects the accused's appeal.

Designation: Sicily has historically had a stronger Islamic influence than Italy. That is why Italian honour killers almost always come from Sicily.

The newspaper indicates the names as "changed".

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:

Questions about honour killings

  • 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.

Posted in Honour killing, Innovation, Investigation and tagged , , , .