A Somali migrant is standing trial in Germany accused of stabbing his sister to death with a kitchen knife on her 23rd birthday to restore her honor after disagreeing with her assimilation in Western society.
The public prosecutor told a regional court in Bremen on Wednesday how the defendant had visited his sister’s apartment in the city on the evening of Dec. 9 last year intending to kill her.
It is the prosecution’s case that when the 23-year-old victim opened her front door to welcome her brother, she was stabbed several times with a kitchen knife to her upper body. A post-mortem showed that two fatal stab wounds penetrated her heart and lung, and despite the best efforts of emergency responders, she died at the scene.
The evidence against the defendant includes a telephone call made by the Somali national to the authorities at the time of his sister’s death during which he can be heard saying, “I just killed my sister. Do you understand?”
In the audio played to the court, the man provided police with his full name and gave directions to the scene of the crime.
Testimony from one of the responding officers described how, upon entering the apartment, the defendant fell to his knees and raised his arms. He was said to have had blood on his fingers and his clothes and told the officers he had attacked his sister with a kitchen knife and had already packed a prison bag before heading to her apartment.
The victim had been found lying on her back on her bed in pink pajamas with the kitchen knife bent underneath her body.
“I spoke to her, but there was no response,” the officer told the court. Her body was still warm but she had no pulse. The officer commenced CPR on the victim until paramedics arrived without success.
“I have seen many corpses in my life, and people have died in my arms, but the way she did, that was really extreme,” the 28-year-old officer told the court. She stated the defendant had told her he had stabbed his sister in the name of honor.
The prosecution also submitted evidence of two handwritten notes found during a search of the defendant’s home after the arrest in which he wrote, “My sister is trying to be a slut” and “I can live without a future but not without honor.”
The 24-year-old’s mental state is expected to be instrumental in deciding on his capacity to commit murder, a charge he denies.
A verdict is expected by the end of May.
