Leftist Politician Denies Afghan Woman Allegedly Murdered by Brothers was Honour Crime

Berlin Senator Elke Breitenbach has denied a possible honour motive in the case of an Afghan woman who was allegedly murdered by her brothers who disapproved of her Western way of life.

Breitenbach, a member of the Left Party, claimed the alleged murder was not an honour killing but rather a misogynistic crime, saying: “In Germany, every third day a woman is killed by her partner or ex-partner. This is not an honour killing. This is femicide.”

“And unfortunately, I have no idea how to better integrate men. It’s not about the origin and nationality of the perpetrators. It’s about the question of gender,” she argued, German newspaper Tagesspiegel reports.

The comments come after two Afghan brothers were arrested in Berlin after being accused of murdering their sister, Maryam H., a mother of two children, because they allegedly objected to her way of life.

The 34-year-old woman was divorced, had been with a new partner, and wore makeup and Western-style clothing rather than a hijab.

The two men, aged 22 and 25, are accused of murdering their older sister in Berlin and then transporting her body in a suitcase by train to Bavaria, burying her in Neuburg an der Donau.

The woman’s body was found ten days after her disappearance on July 23rd. Investigators had examined CCTV footage and spoke with witnesses, which made them suspect her brothers.

The body was found near the residence of the 25-year-old brother, and a subsequent autopsy positively identified the remains as that of Maryam H.

The case is just the latest suspected incident of honour violence in Western Europe in recent years.

In the United Kingdom, there have been several honour-motivated murders, such as the killing of a 19-year-old in Kingston, south-east London, who was found stuffed in a freezer after being kidnapped.

In Sweden, nearly 1,000 honour-related crimes were reported last year alone, and hundreds of thousands of young people are said to live under honour culture, according to a report from 2017.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com