A Dis"honor"able Killing

I would like to tell you the true story of a horrible crime done in the name of “family honor”. These are religiously motivated honor killings are prevalent in the Muslim world. The usual victims of these killings are women and are done by male family members when a perceived action by a female relative seems to break some conservative Muslim moral standard.


An act as simple as being raped or having any kind of relation with a male person, even Platonic ones, who is not related to her is an offense punishable by death. But a death by the cruelest ways possible. The most common method of execution is stoning to death by the male relatives. Once the offending female is dead then family honor is magically restored. And an innocent woman is murdered at the hands of own family.

Now back to the story. This true story takes place in Kahta, in the south-eastern province of Adiyaman in the country of Turkey. A 16 year old girl, one of nine children, known only by her initials M.M. did what, in the saner parts of the world, would be considered normal for a girl her age. She had friendships with males. Even though her grandfather had beaten her for having such relations, she persisted. It was then that that a family council meeting was held to deal with this perceived act of family dishonor. The decision was made and was carried out by the male members of the family. The punishment was death. But not by a simple stoning.

It was an informant who later told what had happened and the girl’s body was discovered dead by the authorities. She was found bound in the seated position and she was put into a 6 foot deep hole under the chicken coop and then the soil replaced and then the family reported her missing to cover their tracks. A forensic report had shown that she had great quantities of dirt in her lungs and stomach which meant she was buried alive and was conscious during the entire ordeal. The father and the grandfather were arrested for murder and were being held in custody pending trial.

It is said that 200 of the 4,400 murders in Turkey are honor killings. There is no honor in killing this innocent girl for something as simple as a perception of wrongdoing. And why is it that the great majority of these victims are women? The answer is simple religious based misogyny. Although the story I told you is an extreme example of it. Every major conservative monotheistic religion has women cast as something as evil and in need of male control. This archaic perception must be changed now!



The Article:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/04/girl-buried-alive-turkey