Honour killing story: Karina (2009)

Karina
Born: 1963
stabbed to death: December 6, 2009
Residence: Rimsting (Upper Bavaria)
Origin: victim: Germany; perpetrator: Pakistan
Children: probably none
Perpetrator: her husband who lives separately

On December 6, 2009, a 37-year-old Pakistani stabbed his German wife, who was nine years older, to death with 14 knife stabs. They were separated and living in a separate apartment in Rimsting (near Rosenheim). The perpetrator was arrested there after the crime. He had notified the police himself.

In June 2010, the case was brought before the district court of Traunstein. Initially the perpetrator remains silent, but then admits to the murder. He talks about the influence of alcohol. He mentions his occupation as an unskilled clerk in a railway station bistro. He had come to Germany as an asylum seeker in 2003, but his asylum claim had been rejected. To escape deportation, his German girlfriend proposed marriage.

The perpetrator was sentenced to 12 years in prison for manslaughter. The real names of the victim and the perpetrator 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.