Honour killing story: Marika (2010)

Marika
Born: 1985
Strangled and set on fire: January 24, 2010
Residence: Olpe
Origin: victim: Germany; perpetrator: Iraq
Children: probably none
Perpetrator: her ex-partner Kerim T. / Awad K. (aged 27 at the time of the crime)

The perpetrator is called Awad K. at one point, at ZDF Kerim T. from Gerlingen. He beat up his girlfriend with a wooden bat in October 2008 and therefore has a criminal record. To others he threatens to kill her if she breaks up with him. Apparently Kerim / Awad considers his girlfriend as property.

Marika is an office worker and breaks up with Kerim / Awad in 2009. She throws him out of the apartment. However, he does not return the key and she does not have the lock replaced.

So on January 24, 2010, he invades her apartment and strangles her with a scarf. Apparently, Marika had an appointment with the photographer the next day. The dress she wanted to wear there, the perpetrator puts on the body and sets it on fire. However, the fire is probably only smoldering.

DNA traces point to the ex-boyfriend as the perpetrator. In court, he denies the crime. A psychiatric report rules out guilt-inducing psychological reasons.

Court Siegen sentenced the perpetrator in September 2010 for manslaughter and attempted arson with aggravating circumstances to 14 years in prison. The appeal was rejected by the Federal Court of Justice in 2011.

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.