Honour killing story: Nuha (2020)

Nuha
Born: 2000
murdered: November 3, 2020
Residence: Paderborn
Origin: Syria
Children: 3 daughters
Perpetrator: her husband Wahid A. (29 years at the time of the crime)

Nuha will be married in 2014 at the age of 14 to the 23-year-old Wahid in northern Syria. She becomes pregnant with twins and Wahid leaves for Germany in May 2015. In October, he brings the underage mother with the children. Another child arrives in 2017. The family lives in Paderborn. Wahid works as a delivery boy.

On November 3, 2020, Wahid cuts his wife's throat in front of their three daughters. She bleeds to death and he calls the police. Officers find the body in the car in a courtyard. The children are placed under the guardianship of the Child Protection Agency.

In the news items you will find the following: There were problems in the marriage. Part of Nuha's family had travelled from Belgium to Paderborn to mediate. Immediately afterwards there was a murder. Wahid gave honour to an uncle as a motive, after which he remained silent.

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.