She wanted to live like a German, as did Hatin Sürücü. And so again, the same question that was asked when Hatin Sürücü was murdered: “How many more women have to die before this society wakes up?”
“Honor Killing Victim Wanted to Live Like other German Girls,” from Spiegel (thanks to all who sent this in):
At age 16, all Morsal Obeidi wanted was to live the way other girls in Germany do. She paid dearly: Obeidi’s brother stabbed her 20 times. Her murder has sparked a renewed debate in Germany about the failure of many immigrant families to integrate into Western society.
[…]
Morsal met with Mohammed, her cousin, on the evening of May 15, a Thursday. They were sitting in a McDonald’s restaurant. Morsal had only been back in the city for a few months, after a prolonged visit with relatives in Afghanistan. It was spring in Hamburg. As they ate, Mohammed thought about the plan that he was keeping a secret from Morsal. It seemed harmless enough. Mohammed said later that Ahmad, Morsal’s brother, had asked him to bring his sister to the Berliner Tor train station. “He said to me: ‘I want you to meet Morsal today. Then walk to the Berliner Tor with her. But don’t tell her anything. I just want to talk to her.”
It seemed harmless enough.
Morsal and Mohammed arrived at the suburban railway station shortly after 11 p.m. They walked around the corner to a small parking lot next to an apartment building, where they sat down to smoke a cigarette. At 11:20 p.m., Ahmad suddenly appeared out of the darkness. Morsal recognized him — and froze. Ahmad approached his sister and then, without saying a word, began stabbing her. He stabbed her a few times. “I think he must’ve taken something first. Drugs. Or maybe he got drunk. I tried to stop him, but he pushed me away,” says Mohammed.
Ahmad Obeidi, 23, is a strong, athletic young man. Morsal tried to run away, but she stumbled and fell. Ahmad stood over her and continued to stab her, five times, ten times, still silent as he swung his right arm up and down over his sister’s body. He seemed intoxicated. The police counted 20 stab wounds, inflicted with such force that Ahmad would later wear a bandage on his right forearm.
Morsal screamed, waking up the residents of the apartment building. Passersby called the police. Ahmad fled to a nearby subway station, and Mohammed followed him. The two cousins boarded a train, where they sat silently across from each other, a killer and his accomplice.
Morsal died.
[…]
In the days following the crime, it was frequently referred to as an “honor killing.” A murder for the sake of honor? Is this even possible? Doesn’t a man who cold-bloodedly kills his own sister, a girl seven years his junior, little more than a child, in fact lose all honor?
A Criminal for Whom Germany Was Foreign
The family was certainly not without its problems. But there was a critical difference between Morsal, who wanted nothing more than to be free, and Ahmad, who was a criminal to whom Germany had always been a foreign place. He staggered through life, unstable, a failure in life. He killed his sister for having become too comfortable in the ways of the West. He resented her for her uncovered hair, her makeup and her short skirts.
[…]
Morsal, unlike her older sister, was obstinate. She was 14 when she began to resist her parents’ authority. She was tired of being complacent, of living according to the old Afghan rules, which seemed irrelevant to her life in Hamburg. She argued with her parents about her appearance and her behavior, her uncovered hair, her makeup, her tight jeans and about smoking and drinking. They argued about her friends and acquaintances. For former fighter pilot Ghulam-Mohammed Obeidi, the family’s reputation was at stake. It was the only thing he had left to lose.
A Father and Son Turned Violent
The police say that he became violent, and so did his son Ahmad. They were losing control over Morsal, and losing their self-control in the process. “You are bringing shame to the family,” they said to her.
[…]
A number of attacks on Morsal are also noted in his police file. But most of the attacks were never reported — or documented. According to police records, Ahmad beat up his sister on Nov. 1, 2006. The older sister, the report reads, scratched Morsal in the face as she was lying on the ground. There were more blows on Nov. 8, 2006. This time Ahmad threatened her with a knife, but without using it. He shouted at Morsal, accusing her of violating the family honor. Morsal filed a complaint against her brother, and she was returned to the KNJD. On Jan. 19, 2007, Ahmad allegedly beat her up again, this time in the office of the family’s used car and bus dealership. His sister dressed like a slut, Ahmad told the police.
[…]
The Obeidis are not a noticeably conservative family. Nevertheless, it valued traditions, and one of them was to defend the family’s property: zar (gold), zamin (property) and zan (women). In their traditional world, it was set in stone that these things are the property of the man….
Read it all.