A bloody family dispute involving a 14-year-old Syrian girl married to her cousin is currently the subject of a trial in Kassel.
The girl’s 25-year-old husband was stabbed by her father, who wants the pair to divorce. The attacker, in this case, is also the uncle of the victim, who is the attacker’s sister’s son.
The 41-year-old father and his 19-year-old son, both of whom were carpenters in Syria, were in the dock in Kassel district court in the federal state of Hesse. Everyone involved in the case is a member of the extended family, who entered Germany in February and have applied for asylum. The incident is being negotiated in court as a family dispute rather than a crime.
The court heard, through a translator, that the accused had been against the marriage while in Syria. Living in Germany, where he and his son share an apartment with his daughter and her husband, had worsened the situation.
HNA reported that in court the Syrian man cried and held his son’s hand. The father said he was unhappy with the fact his son-in-law is unemployed, and he told the court: “I wanted my daughter back.”
A dispute broke out on the 30th of May after both spouses refused the father’s request that they divorce. The court heard that there was screaming and jostling in the apartment and that the son-in-law pushed his wife, who was seven months pregnant.
The father said he was then attacked by his son-in-law. “He beat and kicked me, he is stronger than me,” the 41-year-old alleged.
The accused then reportedly went into the kitchen to grab a knife — reportedly a sharp fruit knife with a long blade — and slashed his son-in-law’s cheek and neck. Neighbours called the authorities, and the girl’s husband was taken to hospital bleeding heavily and with a stab wound in his lower stomach.
It is now being assessed whether or not the injuries to the girl’s husband’s face, cuts which are several centimeters long, will cause permanent damage. If not, the defendant will likely only be charged with simple assault or less.