Honour killing story: Rosa (2010)

Rosa
born: 1992
strangled: 30 / 31 January 2010
Location: Reutlingen / Weinstadt
Origin: victim: Germany; perpetrator: Turkey
Children: none
Perpetrator: her ex-boyfriend Gökhan (at the time of the crime 20 years old)

In the spring of 2008, Rosa, a saleswoman, and Gökhan, an unemployed man, meet. Because of his violence, she divorces after a year and gets a new boyfriend. Gökhan does not want to accept this. In January or February 2009, he breaks into the apartment of his ex-girlfriend's parents in Weinstadt-Großheppach. He has a loaded gun with him. For this, after 5 months of pre-trial detention, he was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence of 2 years, community service and anti-violence training. Because he did not comply with the conditions, he will have to go to prison later.

Before that, he wants to meet his ex-girlfriend again and rents a hotel room in the Reutlinger Hof. Why Rosa agrees to this meeting, even though she knows about his violence, is unclear. She is probably making it clear to him that her decision is final. Later, the police investigate whether Gökhan may have threatened to harm her parents.

In the hotel room in Reutlingen, Gökhan strangles his ex-girlfriend with a cable he has with him. Then he turns himself in to the police. The officers find the body and the murder weapon in the hotel room.

In February 2011, Gökhan is sentenced by the Tübingen District Court to a juvenile sentence of up to 10 years in prison. The court deemed him "still dangerous with regard to relationships with women."

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.