Honour killing story: Mesude (2020)

Mesude
born: 1980
Attempted murder: 1 May 2020
Residence: Hamburg
Origin: Turkey
Children: 2 (10 and 12 years)
Perpetrator: her ex-husband Kalender E. (49 years at the time of the crime)

On May 1, 2020, Kalender storms the apartment of his ex-wife Mesude in Hamburg-Lurup. He stabs her, pours gasoline over his son and sets the child on fire.

Mother and son are badly burned, a neighbor comes to help. Both are flown to a special clinic. The daughter has severe smoke inhalation. The perpetrator also has to go to the hospital.

Neighbours say that it looked like Kalender was still spying on his ex-wife, even though they had been divorced for several years.

At first they say that Kalender is Turkish, later they say he is stateless. Even later: he came to Germany from Kayseri, Turkey, 20 years ago.

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.