German court gives father life jail for honour killing of daughter — Gulsum Semin
— DPA reports: “A German court imprisoned a Kurdish man, 50, for life on Tuesday for ordering the “honour killing” of his own daughter after being told she had lost her virginity. A son and an Azeri friend lured the 20-year-old woman, Gulsum, to a lonely country road near the Dutch border, throttled her with a rope and clubbed her to death, inflicting horrific injuries to her face.”
— “The state court at Kleve sentenced Gulsum’s brother, 20, to nine and a half years in youth prison, just short of the maximum youth sentence of 10 years. He and the victim were two out of three triplets. He had confessed to the killing after he was arrested.”
— “His helper, 37, was jailed for seven and a half years.”
— “Judges said they were convinced the only motive to murder Gulsum had been that she was no longer a virgin and had secretly undergone an abortion.”
— “They said they were also convinced the father of 10, who denied the murder, had ordered his son to kill the sister.”
— “The trio were accused of jointly murdering her in March.”
— “Gulsum had rebelled against the family’s Muslim-oriented rules and after suffering several beatings at home, requested help from German social workers. They arranged for her to live in an apartment, but she later moved home to her family again.”
20 Year Old Muslim Woman Gulsum Semin Murdered by Her Father in "Honor Killing" after she "rebelled against the family's Muslim-oriented rules and after suffering several beatings at home" (Photo/Berliner Umschau)
— CBN Report: Rifqa Bary to Stay in Foster Care for Christmas
— CBN News: “After attending her first court hearing in Ohio, Tuesday, it looks like Rifqa Bary will be spend Christmas in foster care.”
— “This was 17-year-old Christian convert’s first time before a judge in her home state since running away to Florida in fear that her Muslim parents would kill her for converting to Christianity.”
Columbus, Ohio - Rifqa Bary (right) talks to attorney Angela M. Lloyd (left) at December 22 hearing (Columbus Dispatch / Tom Dodge)Rifqa Bary, 17 - reports say she is threatened with death by her family in Ohio for converting from Islam to Christianity
Arizona Republic reports:
— “Man charged with murder in ‘honor killing'”
— “An Iraqi immigrant accused of slaying his daughter in an “honor killing” has been charged with first-degree murder and could face the death penalty, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Monday.”
— “Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, of Glendale, is accused of using his Jeep Cherokee to run over his daughter, 20-year-old Noor Almaleki, and another woman in a Peoria parking lot on Oct. 20. His daughter died of her injuries.”
— “Prosecutors have labeled Noor Almaleki’s death an ‘honor killing,’ saying the elder Almaleki killed his daughter because she dishonored the family by not following traditional Iraqi or Muslim values.”
— “She reportedly married a man in Iraq and returned to Arizona to live with a boyfriend and his mother in Surprise.”
— “Thomas announced Almaleki was also being charged with attempted first-degree murder in the attack on his daughter’s friend, Amal Khalaf, 43. Khalaf is the boyfriend’s mother and is expected to recover from her injuries, police said.”
— “Almaleki was charged with two additional felony counts for leaving the scene of a serious injury accident.”
— “Thomas said his office is still determining whether to seek the death penalty for Almaleki. He called the case ‘tragic,’ saying the county will prosecute Almaleki to the full extent.”
— “At Almaleki’s initial court appearance on Oct. 31, county prosecutor Stephanie Low said he admitted deliberately running down his daughter.”
— ” ‘By his own admission, this was an intentional act, and the reason was that his daughter had brought shame on him and his family,’ Low said. ‘This was an attempt at an honor killing.’ ”
KPHO Phoenix reports:
— “Dad Faces Murder Charges In Daughter’s Death”
— “A Glendale father accused of running down his daughter because she was too Westernized now faces several new charges, including first-degree murder.”
— “A grand jury also indicted 48-year-old Iraqi immigrant Faleh Hassan Almaleki on attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and leaving the scene of an accident charges.”
— “Almaleki was originally charged with two counts of aggravated assault.”
Faleh Hassan Almaleki (Left) and Murdered Noor Faleh Almaleki (Right)
UK’s Poorna Shetty: “Stop tiptoeing around ‘honour’ killings” — Poorna Shetty: “‘Honour’ killings, which tend to feature in Middle Eastern, Turkish and south-east Asian communities, derive their motivation from the idea of shame and honour within conservative and religious frameworks. The key problems are that because it’s perceived as a ‘cultural issue’ and communities are reluctant to come forward, progress has been slow.”
— Quoting ICAHK posting, Poorna Shetty states: “The Association of Chief Police Officers estimate that 17,000 ‘honour’ crimes are committed each year.”
Indonesia’s Jakarta Globe: “Dressing to Impress Aceh’s Shariah Police”
— Jakarta Globe: “Women are revamping their wardrobes in West Aceh to conform to the new Shariah regulation.”
— ” ‘I have to replace my clothes with skirts and Muslim outfits [that are long-sleeved and loose],’ 20-year-old Rahma said last Tuesday. ‘I don’t want to be arrested by the Wilayatul Hisbah [Shariah police] when they really implement the new law.’ ”
— But another woman tells Jakarta Globe: “I’m not afraid of the Shariah police. I believe that a person should not be judged by what they wear. It is the heart that matters, not a piece of cloth.”
Women are revamping their wardrobes in West Aceh to conform to the new Shariah regulation. (Photo: Jakarta Globe)
Saudi Arabia: “Domestic abuse goes unreported due to sensitivity” — Arab News: “women and children still find it difficult to report abuse to the authorities or accept there is a problem in the first place”
— “How can abused children and women report their cases when society accepts such behavior?”
UK: “Tulay Goren honour killing: When tolerance is deadly” – by Eleanor Mills
— “Officially there are a dozen ‘honour killings’ a year in Britain, but experts know this is the tip of an iceberg. Thousands of teenage girls go missing from schools in areas with large Asian populations such as Luton and Bradford, often sent home for arranged marriages.”
— “The suffering of women like my friend and girls like Tulay — not to mention their oppressed mothers — is the shameful side of tolerant Britain.”
