ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A woman was allegedly killed by her husband in Erbil province on Monday with the suspect arrested shortly after, according to a statement from the province’s police directorate.
Bahar Zakaria Fatah, 33, was killed by her husband in Erbil’s Shamamk district on Monday, the statement by Erbil’s police directorate read, as violent femicides continue to plague the Kurdistan Region, with a notable rise in cases since the start of the year.
Zakaria was taken to the hospital following an alleged attack by her husband during a disagreement over “familial issues,” but died shortly after, according to the statement.
The statement added that the husband, whose name was not disclosed by the police, was arrested within five hours of the incident and is currently under investigation.
Suspects of femicides are often arrested but investigations yield little or no result.
An alleged eyewitness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, contacted Rudaw following the incident, claiming that the perpetrator attacked Zakaria “using a knife.” The couple had a child under the age of eight, according to the eyewitness.
Forty five women were killed in the Kurdistan Region in 2021, up from 25 the previous year, AFP reported in March.
At least 11 women were killed across the Region in the first two months of the year.
A man suspected of slitting his wife’s throat was arrested in Erbil on April 21.
The increase of women killings comes despite the Kurdistan Region’s efforts to end gender-based violence and so-called honor killings.
“We must bolster efforts to challenge the toxic masculinity and patriarchal social norms that continue to result in violence. Together we must advocate for the prosecution of perpetrators and the strengthening of the Kurdistan Region Law to Combat Domestic Violence,” the Erbil-based NGO SEED Foundation said in February.
In December, the Region launched an app to tackle violence against women. It also set up a support hotline for victims of violence in 2018, about seven years after the Kurdistan Regional Government passed its Combating Domestic Violence Law, criminalizing domestic violence and equipping the directorate to combat violence by investigating it.
Hotline details: call 119 to seek support.
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