The 21-year-old mother of two, Shnyar Hunar, was burnt alive by her husband in February 2022. She died after spending five days in the hospital with serious burns. The husband was arrested shortly after the incident.
The court sentenced the man to life in prison in June 2023. Dissatisfied with the verdict, Shnyar’s family decided to appeal the decision at the court of cassation, saying that the perpetrator needs to be sentenced to death instead.
“The Sulaimani criminal court authenticated and followed the court of cassation’s ruling and imposed the death penalty on Hunar Rashid, who was accused and is now convicted of killing his wife in a brutal manner by burning her,” Awder Ali, the lawyer representing the victim’s family, told reporters during a presser.
Article 406 of the Iraqi Penal Code stipulates the death sentence for any person found guilty of willfully killing another “if the offender uses brutal methods in the commission of the offence.”
Hunar’s killing sparked strong reactions across the Kurdistan Region, with President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani calling for an end to the so called “honor” killings, and ensuring their commitment to hold perpetrators of femicide accountable.
The Kurdistan Region suffers from high rates of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, domestic violence, so-called honor violence, child marriages, and female genital mutilation.
At least 30 women were killed in the Kurdistan Region in 2023, according to the Region’s Combatting Violence against Women Directorate. In 2022, the Region reported its highest femicide rate in years, with at least 44 women killed.
Femicides in the Region are often linked with the terms “social dispute” and “honor killings,” that perpetrators use to justify murdering their mothers, sisters, daughters, or wives.
