Story By: James King, Sub-Editor: Joana Mihajlovska, Agency: Newsflash

An Iraqi man who murdered both his young sisters while drunk has claimed it was an ‘honour killing’.

The killing of the women, identified only by their first names Howra and Zahra, took place in Sadr City, a suburb district in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Major General Saad Maan, who is heading the investigation, confirmed that the killing “was carried out by their drunken brother”.

The incident sparked calls for more protections for women from domestic violence accompanied with the hashtag in Arabic #Justice_for_Zahra_Howra which started trending on Twitter.

Many online commentators dismissed claims it was an honour killing as untrue, and called for him to be executed.

Another netizen accused his family of being to blame, saying the boys were often raised with the opinion that it is acceptable to beat and to insult females.

A law against domestic violence has been pending in the country since 2015 and in April of this year, Human Rights Watch implored Iraqi authorities to take more action against domestic violence and steps to better protect women.

Human Rights Watch spokesperson Belkis Wille said: “We see case upon case of women and girls dying at the hands of their families, but Iraq’s lawmakers have not done enough to save those lives.”

It is even enshrined in the law that murder carried out because of “honourable motives” such as catching a woman in an adulterous relationship is a mitigating circumstance.

It was not revealed what the brother claimed was the matter of honour that justified the killing, but typically it would be accusing them of friendships or relationships that impinged on his family honour.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.