Honour killing story: Sandra (2007)

Sandra
Born: 1988
stabbed to death: 26 May 2007
Residence: Munich
Origin: Victim: Germany; Perpetrator: Tunisia
Children: none
Perpetrator: her husband Aimen, Tunisian national, 24 years old at the time of the crime, living in Germany for one year

Sandra is not married off, nor is she from a Muslim country. She is from Munich and is (as far as one can judge from the outside) in very normal, good circumstances. When she was 17, on vacation in Tunisia, she fell in love with an entertainer and a hairdresser. He comes to Munich, they marry and live with Sandra's parents in the Milbertshofen district of Munich.

Soon there is trouble. Aimen bullies his young wife. It's about going out, graduation, friends and girlfriends, clothes, future plans and so on.

Because of the constant quarrels, Sandra moves into a flat under the supervision of the Youth Protection Agency in the Lehel district of Munich. Her husband stays with her parents.

While Sandra celebrates her final exams with friends, Aimen ambushes her on her way home. On May 26, 2007, he stabs his wife in the hallway more than twenty times and slashes her throat.

After the crime, the Tunisian fled, but was caught a short time later. As a motive, he says, "She stripped me of my honor. She didn't deserve it any other way." In the course of the investigation, however, Aimen explains something else: His nearly sixty-year-old mother-in-law had sexually harassed him. One newspaper even reports witnesses claiming to have seen the two kissing.

It happens again and again, however, that honor killers brag about alleged additional love affairs. In the 2007 case in Mönchengladbach, the perpetrator claimed to have relationships with four sisters of his ex-wife Rukiye, who was murdered. Sometimes he had parallel relationships with more than 50 women. In this regard, caution is advised. However, why the man was able to continue living with his in-laws after the divorce remains to be clarified. In December 2007, the Munich prosecutor's office filed charges. In March 2008, Aimen was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife. The particular seriousness of his guilt was established, so he could not be released after 15 years.

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.