Honour killing story: Rada (2019)

Rada
born: 1966
stabbed: June 14, 2019
Location: Künzell / Fulda
Origin: Perpetrator: Kosovo
Children: 6
Perpetrator: her husband (55 years old at the time of the crime)

On 14 June 2019 a man stabs his wife to death in a car in a parking lot in Künzell in eastern Hesse. Witnesses call the police. Rada is taken to the hospital. She dies during the emergency surgery. The perpetrator is arrested at the scene of the crime. Five knives were found in the car. The perpetrator was born in Kosovo, has a Serbian and a German passport. The victim is also from Kosovo, also with a German passport. Rada was mother of 6 children.

There is nothing known about the motif. One can assume that she wanted a divorce and that he did not want to accept it. In April 2020, the Fulda regional court sentences the perpetrator to life imprisonment for murder. One of the motives mentioned is that the perpetrator saw his role as head of the family decrease.

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.