The 16-year-old had to suffer martyrdom – even one of the defenders of the tormentors of the young people admitted that. The tormentors in this case were their own father and brother. The girl was tortured because the schoolgirl had a boyfriend and the two accused Yazidis considered this unacceptable for religious reasons.
It was physically abused – and especially mentally. A family tribunal discussed how the daughter and sister could be killed in the presence of the child. The teenager even had to write a farewell letter so that the violent act discussed could be disguised as suicide.
The Augsburg district court sentenced the two men to three years and eight months in prison. The 44-year-old father and 24-year-old brother of the student were found guilty of dangerous bodily harm, threats and other crimes.
Girl fled from the family
The relatives had admitted in part to the accused crimes in court. Her defense attorneys have said they only wanted to intimidate the girl because of the allegedly inappropriate relationship. The brother really wanted to scare his sister, his lawyer said. A murder was never really planned, the lawyers emphasized. They each demanded suspended sentences for the two accused. The court, on the other hand, largely followed the prosecutor and the daughter’s lawyer, who each requested almost four years in prison.
The girl fled the family in May last year. The school and the youth welfare office had paid attention when the girl had strangulation marks on her neck. They intervened together with the police. The father also threatened an official that the 16-year-old’s head would be cut off. The two relatives were taken into custody and the child now lives in an undisclosed location.
Daughter had boyfriend – staining of family honor
In the process, the victim testified from there via video transmission. The Bavarian State Criminal Police Office considers the youth, who has been 17 for a few weeks, to be still at high risk. “You broke me,” wrote the daughter in a letter to her relatives, which the child’s lawyer read in her plea.
The reason was that the two accused Yazidis saw the family honor being sullied for religious reasons when the daughter had a Muslim boyfriend. With Yazidis, only relationships within the religious group are tolerated. The accused are both from Iraq. The father came to Germany 15 years ago and his family brought him there, and his son now also has German citizenship. There are also criminal proceedings against other family members.
The girl’s father and older brother say she can come back to her family at any time and that nothing will happen to her. Judge Silke Knigge said she doubted that the daughter would ever want to have anything to do with her family again.
