The Berlin Regional Court on Monday sentenced a 45-year-old Afghan national to life imprisonment for stabbing to death his estranged wife in front of their four children after she reportedly refused to take him back after he ended their coercive relationship and remarried.

The crime took place on April 17, 2025, in the woman’s apartment in the Britz district of Berlin-Neukölln. According to the court’s findings, the man stabbed his wife five times with a kitchen knife following an argument. The 37-year-old mother of four fled into the stairwell of the apartment building, where she bled to death.

The court described the circumstances of the killing as particularly horrific. The couple’s four children were present in the apartment during the attack. While their mother was fighting for her life, the children desperately attempted to resuscitate her. The defendant, the court found, watched these efforts “indifferently.” He told his then 8-year-old son that he would “buy him a new mother,” according to Welt.

During the trial, the couple’s eldest son, now 22, testified as a witness. He told the court that he woke up to his mother’s screams and witnessed the final stabbing. He described years of jealousy, control, and repeated violence by his father against his mother.

🇩🇪🚨 An Afghan migrant has been jailed for life in Germany for stabbing his estranged wife to death in front of their children.

He told his traumatized 8-year-old son he'd "buy him a new mother."

The Berlin Regional Court found that the 45-year-old Afghan stabbed his wife… pic.twitter.com/SiqV99j1Ip

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) January 6, 2026

As cited by Berliner Zeitung, the presiding judge said the defendant acted out of anger because his wife had not behaved according to his wishes. He was driven by the conviction “that as a man he had the right to punish his wife and was even justified in taking her life,” the judge said. The court explicitly classified the killing as a femicide.

According to the court, the couple married in Afghanistan in 2003 and moved to Germany with their family in 2015. After their arrival, the marriage became increasingly strained due to the defendant’s controlling behavior. He dictated his wife’s daily life, monitored her movements, and restricted her freedom. Among other things, he forbade her from attending a German language course and from working.

At the end of 2024, the man divorced his wife according to Islamic law in order to marry another woman. That relationship later failed, and he attempted to return to his former wife and the mother of his children. When she did not comply with his plans, the court found, he carried out earlier threats and killed her.

The prosecution initially charged the defendant with manslaughter, an offense punishable by a minimum of five years in prison. During the course of the trial, however, the court became convinced that the killing was murder. Diminished responsibility was ruled out.

The court said the defendant will not be eligible for parole for at least 15 years.

The verdict is not yet legally binding and could be subject to appeal.