Honour killing story

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Saskia S.
born: 1992
stabbed: 2. may 2010
Residence: Eckernförde (near Kiel)
Origin: Victim: Germany; Perpetrator: Philippines
Children: victim: 1 unborn; perpetrator: 2
Perpetrator: her ex-boyfriend Erwino-Claudio Y. (age 33)
You can think of this case as an honor killing - or not. Here's the story: 18-year-old vocational education student Saskia from Eckernförde is 10 weeks pregnant with her boyfriend Erwino-Claudio from Rendsburg. He was adopted as a child from Manila in the Philippines to Germany. He is 15 years older than Saskia and already has 2 children. He is a trained salesman, works in a car dealership and receives unemployment benefits.

Saskia wants a divorce, he won't accept it. Or: He wants her to abort the child, which she does not want. On May 2, 2010, he invades her apartment at night and stabs the pregnant woman in her sleep. The unborn child also dies. Erwino-Claudio takes his girlfriend's cell phone and laptop and flees by car, although he has had to surrender his driver's license for speeding. He is arrested at a rest stop near Hanover. The knife has been confiscated.

The murder trial begins in November 2010 in the Landgericht Kiel, with the defendant testifying that Saskia died in his arms and that her last words were "I love you." It comes out that the defendant already wanted to stab an ex-girlfriend in her sleep 12 years earlier, but she resisted and survived.

The prosecutor demands a life sentence and also sees as a motive the defendant's honor system. In December, the perpetrator was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in conjunction with abortion.

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:

Questions about honour killings

  • 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.

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