Honour killing story: Nancy R.(2012)

Nancy R.
born: 1993
stabbed to death: 19 March 2012
Residence: Hamburg
Origin: India
Children: none
Perpetrator: her ex-boyfriend Kaka (18 years old)

15-year-old Nancy comes from India to Hamburg and at a wedding party falls in love with the one year younger Kaka, an asylum seeker, also from India. He is registered in Plauen. The teenagers stay in touch. But Nancy's parents are against the relationship and bring the high school student to Denmark in February 2012. Nancy is now 19 years old and will be married to Dayya S. in an accelerated procedure. He is also from India, probably an imported groom.

After the forced marriage, Nancy rejects her ex-boyfriend. Still, she probably went to see him again. On March 11, 2012, she is reportedly kidnapped. But she reports to the police and claims to be with her ex-boyfriend voluntarily. She tells her parents that she no longer loves her husband. They later beat up Kaka with golf clubs. Then Nancy meets her ex-boyfriend, who now lives illegally in Hamburg, she tells him the divorce is final.

On 19 March 2012, Nancy is on her way home from her office internship (or training). Her ex-boyfriend Kaka robs her and stabs her in the street. Witnesses call the police to go to the Robert Schuman Bridge in Hamburg. The perpetrator is arrested. He has minor cuts on his throat. He may have tried to commit suicide. Nancy dies on the way to the hospital.

The motive of the perpetrator is opaque. If it concerns a hoped-for residence permit, this is not honour killing. Not even if it should be a jointly planned double suicide. In November 2012 the perpetrator is sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment. The judge mentions selfishness and jealousy as motives.

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.