Rukiye Pešter
born: 1969
shot dead: 9 March 2007
Residence: Mönchengladbach
Origin: Turkey
Children: an adult daughter, Derya, who was shot to death with her, a son (born 1994), a daughter (born 1997)
Perpetrator: her ex-husband Erol, Turkish and Dutch citizen, in the West (Netherlands and Germany, respectively) since 30 years at the time of the crime
Rukiye was married in 1995 in Kayseri, Turkey. Her groom lives in the Netherlands. On a vacation at home, his family chooses the 16-year-old as his marriage partner. Although they are cousins, they do not know each other. Erol brings his wife to the Netherlands, where she initially lives with his parents.
The couple has two daughters and a son. But Erol abuses his wife and children until they divorce in 2001. In the process, the father obtains custody of his eldest daughter Derya.
Because he is violent, his wife has to stay with him to protect her. Later, the family moves to Germany, where three of Rukiye's sisters live (who are also married to their Turkish cousins). There, Erol tries to rape one of the sisters. As a result, the family clan decides that Erol should go back to his parents in Holland and leave his wife and children alone.
From then on he starts stalking them. He stands outside the apartment in Mönchengladbach for days and nights. Rukiye applies for custody of her two small children and asks the court for protection from violence. After hearing about this (which ends unsuccessfully), Erol shoots his wife and oldest daughter to death on March 9, 2007.
The honor killing was accompanied by a judicial scandal: the lawyer had told the judge before the custody hearing that the father was wanted on a warrant. The judge had also told the prosecutor this. But the information was forgotten and no one paid any further attention to it. Barely an hour after the hearing, Rukiye and Derya were dead.
On February 14, 2008, the murderer is sentenced to life imprisonment. The particular seriousness of the guilt is established and subsequently preventive detention is ordered.
