Tehran: The death of a 22-year-old social media influencer in Iraq has sparked outrage over the ongoing culture of ‘honour killing’ in the country. Tiba al-Ali was killed by her father on January 31 in the southern province of Diwaniya, interior ministry spokesperson Saad Maan said on Twitter on Friday. According to The Independent, Ali’s father was unhappy with her decision to live alone in Turkey.
In a series of tweets, Maan said the police had tried to mediate between the 22-year-old and her relatives to ‘resolve the family dispute in a definitive manner’. He did not give further details about the basis of the disagreement, but stated that after the police’s initial encounter with the family ‘we were surprised the next day… with the news of her killing at the hands of her father, as he admitted in his initial confessions’.
According to The Independent, Ali was a YouTuber who frequently posted videos of her life in Turkey. Her videos also regularly featured her fiance. Speaking to AFP, the police confirmed that the ‘dispute’ dated back several years. Ali travelled to Turkey with her family in 2017, but she refused to return home with them. She stayed in the country and lived there since.
Her death has now sparked outrage on social media, where people have called for protests in Baghdad to demand justice in response to her death. Activist Ala Talabani wrote, ‘Women in our societies are hostage to backward customs due to the absence of legal deterrent and gov measures – which currently are not commensurate with the size of domestic violence crimes. Yes to legislating the Anti-Domestic Violence Law’. Amnesty International also condemned the ‘horiific’ killing. ‘Until the Iraqi authorities adopt robust legislation to protect women and girls … we will inevitably continue to witness horrific murders’, a statement by the group’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Aya Majzoub said.
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