Honour killing story: Onalia Cendy (2020)

Onalia Cendy
born: 1990
strangled: February 24, 2020
Location: Dortmund
Origin: Iraq / Kurds / Yazidi
Children: 4 (2-7 years at the time of the crime)
Perpetrator: her husband (41 years)

On Carnival Monday 2020 Onalia's husband calls the ambulance service early in the morning. Onalia's body is found in the apartment. The cause of death is "massive violence to the neck". The man has been arrested.

Long ago, on April 13, 2004 (or 2002), the perpetrator would have killed his wife, Siham, in The Hague, for which he was imprisoned in the Netherlands for several years. After that he was deported to Iraq. There he would have married and come to Germany in 2017 (or 2015).

It is also known that Onalia was already in the women's shelter because of domestic violence. At the time of the crime, the family probably lived together again. After the crime, the children are placed under the care of the youth care.

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.