If Only Someone Listened To Her—The Honour Killing Of Banaz Mahmood
“If l run away am dead if l go home am dead.”
Beautiful Banaz was only 20 years old when her family plotted her painful demise. What kind of a crime could a daughter have committed that her parents could not forgive but perceived her death as the only means?.
Banaz Mahmod was one of the five daughters of Mahmod Babakir Mahmod and his wife, Behya. The family had moved from Iraqi in 1995 to seek asylum in England when Banaz was only ten years old. Their asylum granted, they settled in the city of Mitcham, in South London, England.
According to their religion, customs and culture, arranged marriages are still the order of the day. As a result, at the age of 16/17, her family married her away to a man ten years older than her who was physically and sexually abusive.
According to Banaz, her ex-husband was uneducated and old-fashioned. His way of thinking was that of the people from the medieval era "fifty years ago" Though aware of the violence in her marital home, her family advised her to stay because leaving would bring shame to their name. Without a choice, Banaz stayed, but boy, it got worse instead of getting better. Having full knowledge of her rights, she fled the marriage after two years and reported his abusive nature to the police. Disappointingly they didn't do much about it as expected of their job description. They even took a whole three months to issue her a statement to sign.
Fearing to go back to the marital home, she returned to her parents in July 2005, who were unfortunately not happy with her decision. Instead of putting her first and protecting her as her parents, they selfishly thought of the shame her failed marriage would bring them from the community.
Since divorce is also off the table, her parents tried to convince her to go back but to no avail. Her mind was made up, and there was no turning back.
While living with her parents, she fell in love with a man of Iranian Kurdish origin named Rahmat Sulemani. They started as friends, and slowly feelings of love grew. Knowing their taboo relationship, they tried to keep it a secret, but nothing under the sun could be hidden forever. Somehow word got out and reached almost everyone in the community, including her parents.
For the second time, her parents failed dismally to protect her; instead, they disapproved of her relationship and saw her murder as the only way to remove the shame she had brought to the family. Soon, she started noticing that they were people stalking her wherever she went.
On the 2nd of December 2005, Banaz eavesdropped her mom and uncle's phone call and discovered a plot for her and Rahmat's murder. Fearing for her dear life, she went back to the police. However, it was different this time; she was reporting her own family. During her giving a statement, she was overheard saying, "If l run away am dead if l go home am dead.
On 12 December 2005, she delivered a letter to Wimbledon Police Station naming her cousins Hussain and Ali as men who had freely volunteered and were ready to kill her. For the second time, the police failed her again as they didn't take any action.
On the 31st of December 2005, the police were called to a café where Banaz had arrived distressed, stating that her father had tried to kill her.
Unfortunately, her claims were dismissed again because she was under the influence of alcohol, which supposedly her father had forced her to take. Even though she had hand injuries which she said were from smashing a window to escape her father's brutality, the policewoman who interviewed her, PC Angela Cornes, didn't believe her.
She referred to her as "manipulative" and "melodramatic" and wanted to charge her with criminal damage for breaking the window.
While in hospital for her hand treatment, Banaz detailed everything that happened between her and her father on a recording and gave it to her boyfriend, who handed it over to the police.
The Day Of Her Murder
On the 23rd of January 2006, Banaz sent a lovely message to her boyfriend Rahmat "jus be careful, Rahmat Gian, please because I don't think l could live a second without you! I love you so much, xxxxxx". The following day she vanished into thin air. Where was she?
Realising that time was passing without any communication from Banaz, her boyfriend called the police and reported her missing. Investigations began and what struck the officers was how reluctant her family was, including her mother. None came to the police to report her missing or inquire about the proceedings. They were also shocked that her disappearance did not move the Kurdish community, and none hardly cooperated with the police to give out her possible whereabouts.
It appears that on the day of her murder, her mother and father deliberately left her in the house in the morning, knowing she was going to meet her maker. While sleeping in the living room (where she always slept), three men previously mentioned in the letter to the police stormed the room, tortured and raped her for two hours, and then strangled her to death. They then put her body in a suitcase, headed to a house in Birmingham, and buried her in the garden.
The search for her body began, and though it took quite a while, it was finally found by a police helicopter after three months. The police in charge of her case shared some gruesome insights concerning the family's behaviour at the time of her burial. In her own words, "they went in for prayers, leaving their daughter's body in a side road. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it was only our presence that forced the family to hold a funeral".
She was buried at Merton and Sutton Joint Cemetery, and her family left her grave unmarked. On the 26th of June 2007, a memorial service was held for her, and a headstone was put, and her family didn't attend. Indeed they hated her even in death.
The Arrest And Conviction
The police recalled all of her interviews, went through her letter one more time, and arrested Banaz's father, uncle, and three cousins. While in custody, one of her cousins, Hama, was shockingly patting himself on the back for his involvement in the murder.
During the trial, her sister Bekal (who had previously run away from home because of their father's strict rules) testified against the suspects with Rahmat(Banaz's boyfriend. Soon after testifying, they both went into hiding.
After gathering enough evidence, the jury gave its verdict, and all men were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Hopefully, she is resting in peace.
Conclusion
The feeling of being in love is indeed a beautiful thing. In a world full of evil, it takes away many worries and makes one feel safe. Under no circumstance should it be the reason we are sent to early graves. I hope she is resting in peace. It is very sad that she loved people who didn't love her back. Sometimes l wounder why God blesses people with evil hearts with kids whilst those who cry day in and day night to have one are denied. Does it mean he is an unjust God?. I believe not but sometimes it's just hard.
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Sources
https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/honour-itv-banaz-mahmod-killers-19012925
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/banaz-mahmods-horrifying-two-hour-22743855
