- Individual conducts a violent act upon former spouse, inflicting stab wounds, in the vicinity of their shared residence.
A 36-year-old woman, a mom of four, tried her best to shield herself from her violent ex-partner. However, neither the Berlin cops nor the courts could halt the worst-case scenario: On Wednesday night, she was reportedly slain by her ex in Berlin's streets, using a knife as the weapon.
The authorities captured the man, who is 50. The homicide is being investigated as a passion crime or "femicide" or "honor killing," where a man seeks vengeance on his ex-wife who left him, as per a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office, who spoke with dpa. Both the suspect and the victim share Lebanese roots.
Büchner, the prosecutor's office's spokesperson, shared more details with the "B.Z." newspaper: "Beyond the motive, we suspect the culprit felt his honor was injured by the separation. To restore it, he made the decision to eliminate his ex-wife."
Previous instances of domestic abuse had targeted the woman by her ex during their marriage. Eventually, the woman opted to leave and secured a restraining order and a no-contact order from the court, which prohibited her ex from approaching her, engaging with her, and maintaining a certain distance.
Unfortunately, on Wednesday night, he waited for her in the Zehlendorf district's southwestern Berlin area, on the sidewalk by her Hampstead Street home, and attacked her, according to the prosecutor's office. The woman sustained severe injuries from stabbing and cutting. She was revived by summoned paramedics and transported to a hospital for emergency surgery, but ultimately succumbed to her wounds. Detectives from the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) are currently handling the homicide investigation.
Reports from "B.Z." and "Berliner Zeitung" indicate that around 50 individuals gathered outside the hospital. The Charité, which supervises the hospital, confirmed that "a group of people gathered outside the hospital campus Benjamin Franklin on Wednesday evening." Police were dispatched, but Büchner refrained from commenting on any "clan connection."
In 2021, grief arose in Berlin following the deaths of women from Afghanistan commitment by their own relatives. Two Afghan brothers killed their sister in July 2021, then transported her body in a suitcase by train to southern Germany and buried her in a forest. The court sentenced them to life imprisonment, as the sister desired to live her own life, which contradicted the family's moral guidelines.
Similarly, back in 2023, a man from Afghanistan, the husband of a six-time mother, was given a life sentence for killing her in revenge. He attacked her on the street only a few weeks after their separation, equating her to his personal possession. According to the judge, "He is incredibly selfish, crafty, manipulative, and malicious."
These heinous crimes are now commonly referred to as femicide. Femicide occurs when women are killed due to their gender – simply because they are women. The most frequent form is the murder of women by partners or ex-partners, but occasionally other family members are the perpetrators when it comes to "family honor."
One of the most notorious cases was that of the German-Kurdish woman Hatun Sürücü, murdered in 2005 in Berlin at a bus stop by her youngest brother with three gunshots, as she pursued an independent life following a Western lifestyle.
Police Union (GdP): Stalking victims exhaust police resources
The GdP, or Police Union, has highlighted the Zehlendorf tragedy as evidence of the female genocide crisis growing in our society. "The current legal measures to exclude, restrict access, or detain the offenders are inadequate due to the insufficient number of women's shelters and sometimes fail to provide fully sufficient protection," stated GdP spokesman Benjamin Jendro. Police officers often find themselves stretched to their limits in attempting to quickly remove domestic violence or stalking victims from danger zones.
The tragic event in Zehlendorf was labeled as a potential "femicide" or "honor killing," as both the suspect and the victim had Lebanese roots. The ex-husband's motive for the marriage-ending violence and subsequent homicide was believed to be restoring his honor, hinting at a deep-rooted issue of controlling women in certain cultures.
