REACTION ESSAY: HONOUR KILLING

Based on the text “My Daughter Deserved to Die for Falling in Love” which was posted on The Guardian website; guardian.co.uk

Honour killings are still common in some areas of the world. Many people have been killed for extremely strange reasons although they were innocent. Rand Abdel- Quader’s death was an honour killing too.

Rand Abdel-Quader, 17, was murdered by her father and two brothers due to being in a “relationship” with a British soldier. While she was helping displaced families as a volunteer, she met a British soldier, Paul. Being a student in the English department at Basra University, she knew English and acted as interpreter. They were working together and naturally they talked.  A few compliments by the British soldier led her to think she was in love.   Although Rand fell in love with him, Paul, the soldier, didn’t know about it. When her father discovered this, he and his two sons killed her. He said he didn’t regret anything and didn’t have a daughter. Surprisingly, he was released from police custody after what he had done and even congratulated by the officers. After the killing, Rand’s mother left home and got a divorce. Her ex-husband continues to live at home and draw a salary from the hospital he used to work at but doesn’t go into work.

Rand was studying English at Basra University and was the one person who spoke English. She was helping the Iraqi volunteers who she was working with to communicate with Paul. According to her father, she humiliated him by speaking to a foreign soldier. She didn’t sleep with Paul and their relationship was nothing more than a friendship but that was enough for her father.  He believed she deserved to die. Obviously, people have been misinforming people concerning religion. Everyone should be educated to prevent such misunderstandings. The officers’ attitude was also very odd: even though Rand’s father should have been punished, he was supported and congratulated. This is enough to see how bad the situation is in Iraq. Rand’s mother said that her husband was a different person on the day he murdered their daughter. It is possible that he bowed to public pressure which can be very strong in such communities. Such pressure can push people to commit crimes that they would never commit under normal circumstances.

Honour killings sound unreal and ridiculous but a lot of people are suffering from these wrong beliefs. The only way to stop them is to educate future generations.

                                                 İREM GÜNGÖR/ INT; mid. December