Honour killing story: Malika (1985)

Malika
born: 1973
stabbed to death: 4 August 1985
Residence: Frankfurt
Origin: Morocco
Children: none, she was still a child herself
Perpetrator: her father Abdeslam Ben Ayade, 41 years old at the time of the crime

Malika's father Abdeslam Ben Ayade came to Frankfurt from Morocco in 1971. Nine years later, the Berber carpet weaver brings his wife Mimouna and their then six-year-old daughter.

The father soon starts drinking and kicks his wife and daughter out of the house. They flee to the women's shelter. Soon after, Ben Ayade becomes homeless. His wife continues to care for him from the women's shelter. Yet he openly threatens to kill her. Allegedly, the 12-year-old daughter is a slut.

On August 4, 1985, the father meets his wife and daughter in town. He forces Malika to go with him to the city forest, where he stabs her three times in the heart. In front of witnesses, he immediately admits to killing his daughter. To the police he makes a disinterested impression.

Abdeslam Ben Ayade was sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter.

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.