Honour killing story: Cynthia / Syndia R. (2019)

Cynthia / Syndia R.
born: 1998
stabbed: 5/6 March 2019
Residence: Worms
Origin: Victim: Germany; Perpetrator: Tunisia
Children: no
Perpetrator: her ex-boyfriend Ahmed T. (at the time 22 years old)

In the autumn of 2018 Cynthia and Ahmed will meet. She is a geriatric nurse and still lives with her parents in Worms (Rhineland-Palatinate). Cynthia starts to wear a headscarf and learns Arabic. Ahmed has been unemployed in Germany since 2017 and is known to the police for abuse and drugs. His asylum application is rejected, because of his 3 aliases he gets 3 times "pocket money".

In the night of March 6, 2019, the Tunisian stabs his girlfriend in her bed more than 10 times with a knife. Then he surrenders to the police. They are already looking for him, because he is forced to leave the country. When he is confronted, he starts to riot.

It is said that Ahmed wanted to take his girlfriend with him to Tunisia. But he probably wanted her to marry him and get pregnant so he could get a residence permit.

In October the trial starts at the regional court of Worms. In November the perpetrator is sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for murder. Before that he is placed in a psychiatric clinic. He only has to start his sentence when he is supposed to have been in therapy.

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.