Investigation

Honour killing story: Raina (2009)

Honour killing story

Raina
born 1986
nearly beaten to death with an axe: 11 november 2009
Residence: Dusseldorf
Origin: Victim: Jordan; Offender: Kuwait/Palestinian
Children: 1 son (at the time of the crime 5 or 8 years old)
Perpetrator: her divorced husband (at the time of the crime 35 years old)
An unemployed Palestinian cook and a then 15-year-old Jordanian woman married in 2001 and lived with their son in Düsseldorf. The father has a German passport, mother and child will presumably get one too. There are sexual assaults. At one point the man is arrested for inflicting grievous bodily harm. The woman flees to a shelter for women and probably moves into her own apartment with her son in the summer of 2009. The Palestinian will not accept this and begins to stalk her.

On November 11, 2009, he beats his wife in the street with a chopper. He threatens a passerby who rushes to the rescue with a gas gun, but then he lets go of his victim. The woman survives badly wounded. He himself has drugs, a knife and razor blades with him, presumably to take his own life after the crime. However, it is also possible that he already wants to prepare his acquittal on the basis of culpability in case of a trial.

At the end of March 2010, a report is filed for attempted murder. The defense argues that the perpetrator is not guilty by reason of insanity. In May 2010, the trial is postponed because the defendant swallows an overdose of pills the night before the trial begins. New expert reports are ordered.

In August 2010, the perpetrator is sentenced by the Düsseldorf District Court to 6.5 years in prison for inflicting grievous bodily harm. The names of the perpetrator and the victim are not known.

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.

Ralph Geissen

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