Honour killing story: Veronika (2014)

Veronika
born: 1992
Strangled: 30 August 2014
Residence: Fürth (Franken)
Origin: Victim: Germany; perpetrator: Lebanon
Children: one son (4 months)
Perpetrator: her friend Faysal El Hassan (43 years)

The 22-year-old Veronika has a four-month-old son with her friend Faysal, a stateless person from Lebanon. His profession is referred to as bar owner. Or he works in a bar.

The two had met about 4 years earlier in a discotheque and had probably been a couple for about a year and a half. The police were called in several times for domestic violence. Faysal has a criminal record. A friend says there were problems when Veronika wanted to go out.

On August 30, 2014, Faysal will strangle the young mother. A neighbour finds the body and informs the police. The perpetrator flees, but is arrested two days later in Nuremberg. Someone recognized him in a parking lot and called the police. The baby is placed in a foster family, later with his grandparents.

In July 2015, the lawsuit will start at the regional court of Nuremberg-Fürth. In July, the perpetrator is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for manslaughter.

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.