Honour killing story: Samar Al-D. (2019)

Samar Al-D.
born: 1990
stabbed: December 16, 2019
Residence: Berlin-Spandau
Origin: Iraq, presumably Kurds
Children: 1 daughter, 1 son (3 and 5 years with the crime)
Perpetrator: her ex-boyfriend Rebwar B. (36 years)

Samar and Rebwar come to Germany from Iraq. They live in Berlin-Spandau, have a daughter and a son. In the autumn of 2019 they split up, probably after a seriously violent relationship.

About 2 months later Rebwar lures his wife into an ambush and stabs her in the neck several times. Neighbors find the seriously injured woman covered in blood and call the ambulance. Samar dies in the clinic.

The perpetrator presents himself at a police station. He is known to the police. There are charges of domestic violence and rape of the woman and there is a restraining order. Rebwar comes from Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region in Iraq.

The Berliner Zeitung mentions honour as a possible motive. After the divorce the woman had taken off her headscarf to live a life of her own choosing.

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.