Honour killing story: Hassan (2019)

Hassan
born: unclear
Attempted murder: summer 2019
Residence: Mannheim
Origin: Jordan
Children: unclear
Perpetrator: the half-brother (middle 20) of his ex-girlfriend

In the summer of 2019 a Jordanian sends pictures of his girlfriend to the family in Jordan. In the photos the woman is not veiled. She has 2 small children with an ex-husband, with whom she might get together again later on.

Her half-brother, who lives in Rüsselsheim, considers the photographs of the unveiled mother as an attack on the family honour. He decides to kill the sender in order to restore his honour. They meet in a parking lot, where he stabs him with a carpet knife. He sits on him and hits a stone on his skull. Hassan later undergoes emergency surgery and survives.

In March 2020, the trial on attempted murder and infliction of dangerous bodily harm will begin at the Regional Court of Mannheim. The victim and the half-sister would come from the Middle East. Maybe they are Palestinians from Jordan. The real names are not known.

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.