Honour killing story: Majidi M. (1996)

Majidi M.
born 1973
stabbed to death: July 1996
Residence: Hamburg
Origin: Afghanistan
Children:
Perpetrator: her husband Omar R. (39 years old at the time of the crime)

Omar marries Majidi, who is 17 years younger. She divorces him. Presumably there are children from the marriage, but nothing is known.

Omar does not want to accept the divorce. He stabs Majidi to death at her sister's wedding at the Bramfeld Music Hall in July 1996. He then flees Germany and reports to the United Nations Refugee Agency in Uzbekistan in 2002 under a false name. He applies for asylum.

In December 2011, he is transferred to Sweden and seeks to settle there. In February 2012, almost 16 years after the crime, he is arrested by the Swedish police. Omar is placed in extradition detention and extradited to Germany in April 2012.

In September 2012, Omar is sentenced to life imprisonment. During the trial, it had been revealed that Majidi was his second wife.

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.