A five-year-old girl who was kidnaped and raped by a stranger has been murdered by her family in an honor killing, according to reports.
The child's parents allegedly killed their daughter in "cold blood" in the wake of her kidnapping and rape by an unidentified man in the Al-Shahba area of Syria on Nov. 18, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Parents Have Been Arrested After the Child Was Found Dead in a Garbage Container
The girl's body was found in a garbage container in Manbij, north Syria, on Jan. 27. The girl had left her house to meet her father who works on the farmlands before being snatched by the stranger who was riding a motorcycle. It was not clear when the girl was murdered and how long she had been left in the garbage container.
The SOHR has said that Internal Security Forces have arrested several members of her family. The girl's parents have denied killing their daughter and investigations are ongoing.
Honor Killings in Syria
Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members who are perceived to have brought dishonor to the family. The SOHR has now called for the authorities to ensure the child's killers stand trial amid a spate of so-called 'honour killings' in the country.
In July last year a girl was dragged to an abandoned house and shot by her tribe in a so-called 'honour killing' after she tried to run away with her lover and refused to marry her cousin in Syria.
A video circulated online showed the young woman, who was identified as 18-year-old Eida Al-Hamoudi Al-Saeedo, being shot in a desolate village on the outskirts of the northeastern Syrian city of Al-Hasakah.
The following video is graphic in nature. Viewer discretion is advised.
The young woman had tried to run away with her lover but her family and tribe followed her and captured her. Eida, who was from the city of Al-Hasakah, was taken to an abandoned house by her father and brother, along with other men from the Al-Sharabain tribe. She had been starved and beaten for many days before being executed by her family.
Just days after the video of Eida's murder emerged on social media, a 16-year-old girl identified as Aya Muhammad Khalifo, was strangled to death by her father in another so-called 'honour killing' after she was raped by a relative.
