Honour killing story: Guiseppe (2020)

Guiseppe
born: 1994
stabbed: 7/8 March 2020
Residence: Cologne
Provenance: Victim: Sicily; Perpetrator: Iraq
Children: 1 daughter (5 years old with the crime)
Perpetrator: Rechuas B. (25 years), brother of his girlfriend

Guiseppe's family comes from Sicily, he lives with his father in Cologne and works as a waiter. On March 8, 2020, he comes home from work early in the morning and gets into an argument with Rechuas, the brother of his Iraqi girlfriend or ex-girlfriend. Rechuas stabs him and lets him bleed to death in the street. A motorist calls the ambulance.

Later the body is taken to Sicily and buried. More than 10 days after the crime, a suspect (24 years old) is arrested, followed by 2 more suspects (24 and 23 years old). Only the main suspect remains in custody, against whom the trial will start at the Cologne District Court in November 2020.

In the court it is said that Guiseppe called the suspect's sister a whore and talked about 2 abortions. This could indicate an honour motive. But it could also have been a late-pubertal argument in a drunken mood. The Iraqi sister refuses to testify.

The involvement of the other two suspects will be discussed later. One of the two is the brother of the main suspect.

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.