Honour killing story: Neslihan Celik

Neslihan Celik
born: 1987
stabbed: 9 February 2014
Location: Breidenbach (near Marburg)
Origin: Turkey
Children: none
Perpetrator: her husband Muhittin Celik (31 years)

Neslihan and Muhittin get married in 2011 and live in Wuppertal. Because Muhittin threatens and beats his wife, she asks her parents in August 2013 to move back to them. She says to her mother: "Otherwise he will kill me". The mother hears two death threats on the phone. Nevertheless, the parents urge her to return to her husband. The couple then take a shared apartment near her parents.

On February 9, 2014, around 11:00 a.m., Muhittin stabbed his wife to death in their shared apartment in Breidenbach in central Hesse. He stabbed her 20 times in her neck and upper body. Neslihan suffocated by inhaled blood. The perpetrator flees. A large-scale manhunt is started. On the run, the perpetrator writes a letter to his uncle in which he blames the family of his wife for the failure of his marriage.

In October 2014 the trial will start in the court of Marburg. The perpetrator pleads guilty and is sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for manslaughter. It is said that the act was a crime of affectation, so liability is limited.

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.