Honour killing story: Rahela (2012)

Rahela
born:1977
stabbed: 8/9 July 2012
Residence: Tyrol
Provenance: Victim: Romania; Perpetrator: Turkey
Children: unclear
Perpetrator: her partner (47 years)

On 9 July 2012 students will find a corpse in Wimpasing on Lake Starnberger. It is a 35-year-old Romanian woman who works as a kitchen assistant in Zillertal (Tyrol/Austria). The suspicion falls on her 47-year-old partner, a Turk with an Austrian passport. After the crime, he takes the victim's car to Switzerland, from where he flees to Italy and finally to Turkey. He probably also has a Turkish passport.

The police find the getaway car in Switzerland.

Three days after the body was found, the perpetrator was arrested in central Rome. The Public Prosecutor in Traunstein requests extradition.

In March 2013 the trial will start at the court of Traunstein. You can hear that there are 17 stab wounds and violence on the throat. Witnesses report that there has been violence in the relationship before. The perpetrator has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for manslaughter.

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.