Honour killing story: Rabia and Denys (2014)

Rabia and Denys
born: 1993
attempted murder: 25 May 2014
Residence: Fürstenwalde (Brandenburg)
Origin: Lebanon
Children: probably not
Perpetrators: Rabia's parents Mariam and Khaled (62 and 61 years old)

Mariam and Khaled are stateless Arabs from Lebanon. They are strictly Islamic and came to Germany in 1998. At that time their children were 5, 7 and 9 years old. Her daughter Rabia is allowed to graduate from high school and falls in love at the age of 20 with a school friend who converts to Islam for her. But that is not enough for the parents. He is neither a real Arab nor a real Muslim. Although one of the older brothers is married to a German woman.

The parents are put under pressure by their community. They should be tougher on their daughter. When a friend sees the couple in public, the parents are immediately informed.

Rabia's parents see their family honour in jeopardy and threaten her with a forced marriage. When the father discovers his daughter's second cell phone, the mother gives him permission to kill her daughter. Rabia sends her friend Denys a text message. He finds his girlfriend, her brother and the parents on a construction site. The family builds a house there.

The father attacks the friend with a beam of wood. The mother strangled the daughter and attacked her with a stone. She shouts, "I'll make your head explode." Denys can call the police, the parents repeat their death threats to the officers.

In the first place, the court of Fürstenwalde will deal with cases of coercion, threats and the infliction of bodily harm. However, the judge sees a joint attempted murder and refers the case to the court of Frankfurt/Oder. The case will be heard there from August 2016. Rabia and Denys will go to a witness protection programme. In September, the parents will be ordered to pay fines for inflicting physical injury and threats. The role of the brothers Mohammed and Ibrahim remains unclear. They are said to have offered their parents to kill their sister and her boyfriend.

Rabia and Denys are not the real names of those involved.

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.