Honour killing story: Emine (2012)

Emine
born: 1963
Attempted murder: 13 November 2012
Residence: Lüneburg
Origin: Turkey
Children: 3 (8, 15, 20 years)
Perpetrator: her divorced husband Hasan S. (48 years)

Emine and Hasan got engaged in 1988 and married 1 year later in Turkey. A few years later he takes a second wife and runs a snack bar in the old centre of Lüneburg. His wife divorced him in 2009, but lives next door with the 3 children. However, the divorce only became legally binding ten days before the crime, when he signed it at the Turkish consulate in Hanover. On 13 November 2012 Hasan attacks his wife with a kitchen knife in front of the snack bar - in front of the 8-year-old daughter. He rams a 25 cm long knife several times in her mother's upper body.

Passers-by intervene. Emine has to undergo emergency surgery, but is still in "very critical" condition. She is in a coma for 9 days and in hospital for 4 weeks. Hasan has been arrested. The perpetrator is known to the police for domestic violence.

In March 2013 the trial on attempted manslaughter will start in the regional court of Lüneburg. The verdict is unknown.

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.