Honour killing story

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Nesima R.
born: 1985
stabbed: 19/20 July 2009
Residence: Munich
Origin: Afghanistan
Children: one daughter (age 3 at the time of the crime)
Perpetrator: Mohammed Zafar (28 years old), father of her daughter
Nesima has lived in Munich for many years. In 2008, a man comes from Afghanistan, claiming to be married to her according to the law there. She may have been forcibly married to the cousin on a family vacation. The couple has a daughter together (possibly from the forced wedding night). The husband is probably a painter, but does not work and lives in an asylum seeker's home.

Nesima is in a relationship with another cousin in Munich. In July 2009, she and her young daughter are visiting a relative. At night, her husband hammers on the door of the apartment. She must return to him. The woman does not open the door. When Nesima thinks Zafar has disappeared, she ventures out into the hallway. There he grabs her and kills her with 24 knife stabs in front of her daughter.

One of the neighbors hears the screams shortly after midnight and calls the police. Nesima is initially able to be resuscitated, but dies in the hospital. A short time later, the perpetrator is arrested. During his interrogation he claims that according to the Koran he had the right to kill his wife. The police find the murder weapon in the basement.

At least once before the murder, police had been called to the couple's shared apartment because of an argument. Even in that incident, Nesima denied being married to him.

In April 2010, the trial begins. It turns out that a brother of the defendant has already been convicted. He had started a fire, for which he wanted to blame Nesima's boyfriend. This was to end the relationship and restore family honor.

The common daughter lives in the house and is admitted as a co-plaintiff in the trial. After a short trial, the Munich jury court sentences the perpetrator to life imprisonment. The particular seriousness of the guilt was not established, in part - the verdict reasons - because the victim's brother and father had advised the perpetrator to kill his unfaithful wife.

In May 2017, the case hit the press again: The brother, named Mostafa, who had set the fire at the time, served almost 6 years in prison. After that, he wore an ankle bracelet. However, since the 41-year-old converted to Christianity with the permission of the Bishop of Augsburg, he will not be deported to Afghanistan. At the shelter where he lives in Arnschwang near Regensburg, he stabs a 5-year-old Russian boy to death for allegedly being too noisy. Mostafa also goes after the mother, but is then shot dead by police officers.

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:

Questions about honour killings

  • 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.

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