Zhinwar choked to death with wire of hair dryer

Photo by Stefano Pollio for unsplash.com

By Ammar Aziz in Duhok

Despite beatings and physical torture, Zhinwar was forced by her parents to go back to her husband, until he kills her with a dryer wire.

The incident took place on May 10, 2022 in Sarhaldan neighborhood of Duhok Northern Province and the husband immediately surrendered to police.

“I learned about my daughter's death from people by a phone call. I don't know what was the reason, but I will not forgive my son-in-law and will not hold a funeral until he is killed like my daughter,” Isa Hassan, Zhinwar's father, told KirkukNow.

Hassan vowed they wait 10 days to recover his daughter's rights from the accused.

My daughter used to have problems with her husband, but I kept advising her to cope with him

Zhinwar Isa, 28, was mother of a four-year-old son while her husband, 32, surrendered to Duhok police and confessed the crime.

Hemin Sulaiman, Duhok police spokesman, said the couple had a fight on the morning of May 10. “We don't know what the fight was about, but at 8 am the same day, the man killed his wife with hairdryer wire. He called police and admitted it.”

In the Kurdistan Region, the murder of women is dealt with under Article 406 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which carries a penalty of life imprisonment up to the death penalty, and the killers are not covered by any amnesty.

“My daughter used to have some problems with her husband. I advised her to respect her husband and adapt because we didn’t want her to get divorce, at least for the sake of her child.”

“Once he has had beaten her while she was pregnant and lost the baby.”

Since the beginning of this year, 17 women and girls have been killed in Kurdistan Region of Iraq KRI, according to the Kurdistan Women's Coalition, a front of women's rights organizations, under the excuse of "honor or social problems", including Eman (Maria) Sami (20 years), who was killed by her brother in Erbil, and Shinyar Anwar (21 years), who was killed by her husband in Sulaymaniyah.

Statistics from the General Directorate for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence indicate that 24 women were killed in the KRI last year, in addition to the registration of 62 cases of "suicide" and more than 78 cases of "self-immolation."

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Ninewa, March 2019: A photo expressing violence against women in a rally of women residents of Sunny sub-district of Shingal district. KirkukNow

"Three years ago, my daughter came back because she had problems with her husband. He travelled abroad for a year and then came back to me through his relatives to take my daughter back ".

“After reconciliation between us and my son-in-law's family, my daughter returned to her house again. They came to our house even during Ramadan (April 5th to May 5th) and I felt that their problems were over,” Isa bitterly said.

According to official statistics, more than 300 women have been killed in the KRI since 2015 up today.

On March 18, 2022, Aliya, 15, was shot dead by her father for hanging out with a man after divorce, in Soran district, north-eastern of Erbil province. According to KirkukNow follow-ups, Aliya was forced to get married while she was only 13 and quit school at the time.

We would like the two families to reunite and make tribal reconciliation

"We would like the two families to reunite and make tribal reconciliation, but even in that case, the killer will receive his punishment according to the law, which is life imprisonment or the death penalty," the police spokesman said.

KirkukNow could not get comment from the relatives of the suspect.

Aram Mohammed, director of combating violence against women in Duhok, said Zhinwar had not filed any complaint about violence by her husband to any station of police combating violence against women and “now the case is investigated by the security forces and the court and we can’t interfere.”

According to Duhok police statistics, seven people have been killed in the province this year, only two of them were women.

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