Afghan Brothers Charged With Murdering Their Sister In Germany For Abandoning Islamic Practices

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Story By: James KingSub-EditorMarija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

German prosecutors have charged two Afghan men with murdering their sister because she refused to wear a headscarf and dishonoured the family by refusing to accept her place as a servant.

The case made international headlines when the two brothers showed no remorse over their sister’s death and told detectives who quizzed them that she had not known her place and that “a woman is like a servant”.

The mother of two, identified only as Maryam H., 34, because of local privacy laws, was found buried in a shallow grave some 550 kilometres (342 miles) from her home in the Bavarian town of Holzkirchen, a location that was apparently chosen because it was near to where the older brother lived.

Maryam H., 34, from the city of Berlin in Germany who was allegedly murdered by her brothers for wanting to remarry. (Newsflash)

The two accused killers, again identified only as Seyed H., 22, and Sayed H., 25, because of local privacy laws, were seen in CCTV footage with the large suitcase police say contained the sister’s chopped-up body being moved on public transport through Berlin.

The footage shows the men working together to put the suitcase on a train at Berlin-Suedkreuz station on 13th July. They then travelled to Bavaria, where they buried the body.

During the interrogation, the Afghan brothers were quoted as telling investigators: “We treat women differently than you do. A woman is like a servant who does the housework, cooks and looks after the children.”

Maryam H., 34, from the city of Berlin in Germany who was allegedly murdered by her brothers for wanting to remarry. (Newsflash)

According to the police, the suspects lured their sister from her temporary accommodation in the capital Berlin, where she was living with her children, and killed her because she had given up following Islamic practices, which they claimed harmed the family’s honour.

The victim was the mother of a 10-year-old daughter and a son aged 13.

Along with the children’s father, the family moved from their native Afghanistan to Germany after applying for asylum in 2013.

Maryam H., 34, from the city of Berlin in Germany who was murdered by her brothers for allegedly wanting to remarry. (Newsflash)

After her marriage broke down, Maryam divorced her then-husband under German law in 2017. However, he reportedly refused to annul the marriage under Islamic law.

According to local media, when Maryam’s brothers found out she had met someone new, they began to intrude in her life, forcing her to wear a headscarf and forbidding her from leaving her accommodation without a male escort.

Maryam’s ex-husband also threatened her with death, leading to a restraining order being taken out on him.

The hole in which Maryam H., 34, from the city of Berlin in Germany was burried by her brothers after they killed her for wanting to remarry. (Newsflash)

Investigators believe Seyed had lured his sister to meet him on 13th July by claiming he had found an apartment for her and the children. She was declared missing the same day.

After her cut-up body was found, an autopsy concluded that she had died from head and neck trauma.

The brothers were arrested after they were caught on CCTV dragging the suitcase they had bought for EUR 60 (GBP 51) from Primark onto a train. They have been in custody since 4th August.

Sayed H., 25, who allegedly killed his sister Maryam H.,34, in a the city of Berlin in Germany. (Newsflash)

Local media said Sayed’s asylum claim was rejected in 2016, but he subsequently attempted suicide, leading to him receiving psychiatric treatment and thereby avoiding deportation.

Seyed, who lives on benefits, was fined EUR 600 (GBP 505) for causing bodily harm in February last year, according to reports.

The two children are still living in Berlin and attended school daily. A date for the trial has not yet been revealed.