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Daughter strangled with shoelace for 'honour' By Michael Holden in London June 12, 2007 07:51am Article from: Reuters Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email A KURDISH man was convicted in a London court overnight of murdering his 20-year-old daughter in a so-called "honour killing" after she left her husband and fell in love with another man. Banaz Mahmod was strangled with a shoelace in her home in London, her body was stuffed in a suitcase and taken some 120 miles (190 km) to the city of Birmingham, where it was buried in the back garden of a house. Mahmod Mahmod, 52, ordered his own daughter's murder with the help of his brother Ari Mahmod, 51. The killing itself was carried out by their associate Mohamad Hama, 30, and two other suspects who are still at large, police said. The court had been told that Banaz had been forced to marry an Iraqi Kurd when she was 17 but the relationship collapsed. She returned to live with her parents in 2005, later falling in love with Rahmat Suleimani. Her family decided to kill her because they believed the relationship had brought dishonour on the family as Suleimani was an Iranian Kurd and not a strict Muslim. Banaz's body was found in April 2006, months after she was killed. Honour killings were almost unheard of in Britain until a few years ago but police and prosecutors now estimate there are about a dozen such murders a year. Campaigners say that the issue was misunderstood and that the authorities had been unwilling to get involved for fear of upsetting cultural sensitivities in minority communities. Banaz had contacted police a number of times before her death, saying her life was at risk, but no action was taken. An inquiry is under way into the police handling of the case. "I don't think I have loved anyone as much as I have loved Banaz," Mr Suleimani said in a statement. "She was my first love. She meant the world to me." Mahmod Mahmod, Ari Mahmod and Hama will be sentenced at a later date along with Pshtewan Hama, 26, who admitted perverting the course of justice.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21891623-954,00.html
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