Honour killing story: Steven and Kevin (2002)

Steven and Kevin
Born: 1997, 1998
drowned: July 20, 2002
Residence: Frankfurt/M.
Origin: India
Children: they were children themselves
Perpetrator: father Buhpendraroy Govindji C. (aged 43 at the time of the crime)

This crime is not a typical honor killing. Yet honor is the driving force behind the story.

Buhpendraroy is from India and comes to Germany illegally via the Netherlands in 1987. Through marriage he obtains a German passport in 1992. After his first (German) wife leaves him in the mid-1990s, he gets an imported bride from India in 1996. The two have two sons.

Buhpendraroy is violent and his second wife leaves him. In a fierce custody battle, he obtains visitation rights for the children. The mother repeatedly points out the threatening situation to the child welfare agency.

In July 2002, during an excursion, the father ties his sons to a bicycle and drowns them in the Main. The bodies are found by the crew of a ship. In a letter, he claims it was a bicycle accident. A mosquito had flown into his eye.

After the crime, he flees to Ireland and is arrested there 2 weeks later.

In June 2003, the trial begins. The prosecutor sees the motive in punishing the mother. The perpetrator wanted to damage her as badly as possible. In August, he is sentenced to life imprisonment. The particular seriousness of the guilt is established. In the grounds of the verdict, the motive for the double murder is the family's claim to dominance.

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.