Woman stabbed to death in Iraq street 'for refusing to wed first cousin’
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A woman was stabbed to death in the street after reportedly refusing to wed her first cousin in an arranged marriage.
Nourzan Al-Shammari was murdered in Baghdad, prompting outrage across Iraq when footage of the appalling crime was shared on social media.
While walking home from work she was killed in broad daylight by three people wearing headscarves and carrying knives. According to local media outlet Alsumaria News of Iraq, she was murdered in the so-called "honour killing" for refusing the marriage.
Police have arrested Nourzan’s brother for his suspected role in the deadly knife attack, while his two cousins are still on the run, according to local news reports.
It is believed this was not the first arranged marriage that Nourzan had been subjected to, with reports that she was first married against her will as a child.
The Iraqi Ministry of the Interior’s Relations and Information Director Major General Saad Maan issued a statement confirming they had arrested multiple suspects, though they have not been named.
A "working team of experts and investigators” had been pulled together to find the perpetrators of the crime, Maan said.
Footage showing the murder was released by the Baghdad Anti-Crime Directorate.
According to local reports, the young woman’s family had forced her to marry her first husband when she was just 13.
After they divorced her uncle, who has not been named, tried to make her marry his son, her cousin.