A Chechen teen girl was allegedly stabbed by her older brother for acting too European and was also raped by her father.
In mid-February 2017 in Gorges, Loire-Atlantique in western France, a 16-year-old Chechen boy was arrested for stabbing his 15-year-old sister after he had accused her of “living European” and “not respecting the culture of his country”.
According to a report from the regional magazine L’Hebdo de Sevre & Maine hosted on the French news platform actu, the 16-year-old Chechen, described as being radicalised, had taken issue with the clothes his sister wore and her frequently leaving the house.
The young girl had also earlier been taken from her home for a year and placed in foster care, following allegations that her mother had been violent towards her.
The girl, who is now 20 years old, has since claimed that her father regularly raped her after returning to the family home in late 2015 until early 2017. The details had been revealed during the investigation into the assault by her brother.
The father was placed on trial at the Criminal Court of Nantes on Thursday, September 30th.
The court heard the allegations against the father including, according to the judge: “Vaginal sexual penetrations, penetrations of the anus with the fingers, the use of toys (vibrator, dildos…) and even masturbating in front of your daughter when she phoned her boyfriend and spoke about sexual matters.”
Investigators claim the girl was silent about the abuse for so long due to fears of reprisals. The court heard she had developed sleeping disorders, eating disorders, had self-harmed, and had suicidal thoughts as a result of the trauma.
The 60-year-old defendant, who describes himself as Muslim and only moderately observant, had come to France in 2010 and was granted political asylum after claiming he was a fierce opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He has denied the allegations of sexual abuse. The trial for his son’s stabbing case, meanwhile, begins on October 6th.
The case comes after another incident of honour violence among Muslims in Lyon in 2018 that saw a man attempt to strangle his daughter’s boyfriend after finding out that he was not a Muslim.
Honour culture and honour violence cases are becoming more common in some western European countries, such as Sweden where nearly 1,000 honour-related crimes were reported in 2020 alone.