ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Security forces in Iraq’s southern province of Basra have arrested an 11-year-old boy suspected of killing four members of his family on Monday evening, a police official told Rudaw. The tween is accused of killing his father, mother, sister, and brother, according to Aziz Hashim, media head of Basra police, who claimed that primary investigations suggest the suspect shot his family in reaction to being beaten by his father. “Investigations into the incident continue to learn more details. It has yet to be determined if he [suspect] was under the influence of alcohol when committing the act,” Hashim added. Several instances of family feud-related killings have been reported in Basra in recent months. In July, a family dispute led to the killing of four people and one wounded. In May, a man took his own life after killing his entire family, totaling 12 people, allegedly due to financial difficulties. The youngest victim was a one-year-old child. Iraq reported about 17,000 complaints of domestic violence in 2022, according to AFP. Despite pressure from the United Nations, the Anti-Domestic Violence law, presented by the Iraqi presidency to parliament in 2019, has yet to be adopted. A key provision of the proposed legislation includes the creation of shelters for victims of domestic violence. Hastyar Qadir contributed to this article
